History - The French Revolution

During this unit, the children will look at how France’s defeat and loss of colonies in America led to national debt, exasperating feelings of social inequality which sparked the French Revolution. The French Revolution was a time of political and social upheaval which saw the monarchy in France overthrown. During this unit, the children will study the causes of the French Revolution and the consequences it had on French society.

The children will learn about significant events in French history, such as the Storming of the Bastille. They will look at what this signified to the French people at the time as well as learning about how the people in France still celebrate Bastille Day, which they call La Fête Nationale, where they remember the time when the people rebelled against the power of the monarchy.

Art and Design - Art from Western Africa

This unit explores the art of Western Africa by looking at Malian antelope headdresses and the Benin plaques from Nigeria. The children learn about how the Malian headdresses, made by the Bamana peoples are used in a ceremony to honour the spirt Chiwara and reflects the importance of farming in their rural community. The children explore how the shapes in the headdress represent different animals important in Bamana society.

Children are introduced to the Benin plaques, also known as the Benin bronzes. They learn that the plaques, made by the Edo peoples, were cast from brass, made between 1550 and 1650 to decorate the pillars of the royal palace in Benin City and tell us about life in the royal palace and the Benin Kingdom. By studying the plaques the children understand how the Edo peoples traded with the
Portuguese and consider the circumstances in which some of the plaques were taken from Benin City and brought back to Britain. They learn about the reception of the plaques by the late Victorians (who were surprised at the sophistication of the artworks) and of the current debate about restitution of the plaques to Nigeria. 

During the course of the unit the children carry out an extended project to create a cardboard relief of an insect. Through this they explore the concept of sculptures in relief (as seen in the Benin plaques) and using simplified shapes to represent an animal (as shown in the Malian headdresses). They produce observational sketches, annotations and designs before building their relief form cardboard.

Geography - East Anglia, Yorkshire & The Midlands

Throughout this unit children will look at how human activity can change and shape landscapes. They will look at this in different contexts such as how people drained the Fens to create waterways and land for farming. They will learn how mining in the Midlands provided resources for industrial development. The Ribblehead Viaduct and the Humber Bridge will be studied as examples of how people have changed landscapes.

Science - Astronomy

In this unit, children will study astronomy. They will learn that the word astronomy comes from the Greek word astron meaning ‘star’. Therefore, astronomy is the science that studies the laws of the stars and everything in universe beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. The substantive concepts of this unit are motion, force, energy, matter and space.

In this unit, the children will learn about the evolution of the universe, gravity, the solar system, lunar phases and about galaxies.