History

The Victorian Age

During this unit, the children learn about the significant life of Queen Victoria: both her personal life and some of her decisions as a monarch, including her involvement with the British Empire. In addition to the political context of this time, this unit also delves deeper into the social aspects of Victorian Britain, looking in particular at the lives of the poor. During the unit, children will consider the similarities and differences between the lives of the rich and the poor in Victorian England. Children will have access to primary sources to explore what it was like to live in a Victorian slum or Workhouse and discuss how attitudes to the poor were
reflected in new legislation. 

The children will also learn about more positive aspects of the Victorian period, looking at the significance of the Great Exhibition and the growth in technology and new discoveries made by the Victorians. The children will complete the unit looking at the legacy of the Victorians, analysing the similarities and differences between life in the 1900s and life in Britain today and considering the question, what has changed/stayed the same since the Victorian era.

Work in this unit includes a visit to the Black Country Museum.

Art and Design

History of Photography

Design & Technology

Sew: Bags

Children will make a bag decorated with the appliqué/embroidery with a plaited handle for their own/a family member’s/a friend’s use at home.

Geography

Local Study

Children will look at maps of the local area, will sketch maps using their knowledge of the local area and will collect and analyse data. Throughout this unit, children will reflect upon the importance of data to geographers, how they collect, analyse and present their data and what data can tell us about the world around us.

Children will analyse their data and present it visually using a suitable graph. Then using their information, children will write to a local councillor to explain the issue they have studied, present the data they gathered, and to make suggestions for addressing the issue.

Science

Meteorology

In this unit, children will deepen their understanding of meteorology: the study of the weather. 

Children will learn that meteorologists have the knowledge and skills to predict forecasts and to explain weather-related phenomenon. They will learn that weather happens because our planet is wrapped in layers of air called the atmosphere.  In 1976, scientists discovered a hole in the ozone layer due to particular chemicals produced through man-made products. The children will learn that a worldwide agreement, called the Montreal Protocol, banned the production of ozone depleting chemicals, in 1987. The children will learn that ozone levels have since risen in Northern Hemisphere, due to a rise in population and industrialisation (DEFRA, 2009).

The children will learn that the UK experiences six air masses which affect the weather, and that the UK’s climate is called a maritime climate because it is largely influenced by the sea.  The children will be introduced to warm and cold weather fronts. Finally, the children will learn how thunder and lightning is caused, and how we often see lightening before hearing thunder. This is because light travels faster than sound.