History

The Intent of History at St Anthony's

Our high-quality History education at St Anthony’s aims to inspire in pupils a curiosity and fascination about the places, people and events of the past, developing their knowledge of how things have changed over time and how history has shaped the lives of people today.

Welcome to the History Impact Page

Below you will find some examples of our History in action at St Anthony's. Mr Whittle is our History Leader. This is in addition to our wonderful displays, children's books, visitor comments and of course, our children themselves. Ask us all about History ... we love learning about the past! 

Year 5 History - Viking Raids and Invasions (Autumn 2)

This half term, Year 5 have been exploring the Viking age of Britain, comparing a range of sources of evidence to decide whether the Vikings came to invade or settle on British land.

Our learning journey began by using atlases to explore the lands the Vikings came from and the geographical conditions there, speculating why the Vikings may have come to settle in Britain.

We have used and analysed a range of sources to inform our research, including authentic Viking artefacts from the Barnsley Experience. It was extremely important to consider whether each source was a primary or secondary source, as well as whether each source was biased.

We ended our topic by re-enacting two of the most significant battles of the Viking age of Britain - the Battle of Stamford Bridge and the Battle of Hastings.

This has been an extremely exciting topic to study, which we will be sure to revisit often. Feel free to ask us any questions about the Vikings - we are sure to blow you away with our knowledge!

Year 2 took part in an online workshop with the National Archives to explore the evidence which informs us about the Great Fire of London. We explored maps of London before and after the fire, which showed us the impact of the fire. We pinpointed where Pudding Lane was on the map, based on how the streets of London had changed after the fire. The lighter parts of the map showed us how the buildings had been destroyed and engulfed by the fire. We then explored Hearth Tax from 1666, showing us evidence of Thomas Farriner and his bakery on Pudding Lane. After, we looked at King Charles’ declaration where he stated that any new house or building must be made from brick or stone. We learnt so much from our session and all children asked fantastic questions!

As part of our exciting History topic, 'The Great Fire of London', Year 2 created our own Great Fire right here at St Anthony's! Each child created a magnificent building from 1666 in order for us to create a London scene of Pudding Lane and beyond...

From this, our fire started in Thomas Farriner's Bakery on Pudding Lane, spreading rapidly throughout the streets of London. We saw how the fire spread so quickly because the houses were so close together and also the wind carried the leaping waves from building to building. Afterwards, we discussed the impact of the fire and saw how lots of London was left as rubble and ash. What an amazing experience!

Thank you so much to all of the parents in Year 2 for supporting our wonderful children with this exciting activity, through creating some extraordinary 1666 buildings. Wow! I'm so proud of you all Year 2, what a great afternoon of History learning.

In our History topic, 'The Great Fire of London', Year 2 have been exploring old and new maps to discover what they could tell us about the fire. We compared the maps and considered what was similar and what was different about each map. We then used our observational skills to identify where the famous Pudding Lane was on each of the maps. We noticed that Pudding Lane could be identified by crossing London Bridge and moving up and to the right - some great skills here Year 2! We then looked at the newer map of London to consider how it looks different to the map of London before the great fire started. What a fantastic start to our topic Year 2, I'm really proud of you!

Year 2 engaged in a fantastic virtual workshop hosted by Abbey House Museum, in order to find out about toys from the 1950s and how they differ from our toys today. The children were shown lots of different toys from the past and it was shared how they were made and why certain materials were chosen to make the toys. We then discussed the similarities and differences between toys from the past and present and were given the opportunity to ask lots of insightful questions. Well done Year 2!

We are really enjoying our History topic where we are learning about Roman Britain.  As History detectives, we worked in groups and selected our own areas of interest. We carried out research using a range of secondary sources. We noted our findings and presented our learning to the class. The highlight was children discovering what the Romans used instead of toilet paper. A fact I am sure that they will never forget!

We had a wonderful time during our Roman Day. It was an opportunity to bring our history topic to life.  We selected our own areas of interest and carried out research using a wide range of secondary sources.  We worked together and decided how to record our findings.  We then presented our learning to the rest of the class.   We found out about the importance of Roman mosaics and enjoyed creating our own examples. This was a day to remember!
 

We had a wonderful time at Temple Newsam. This was an opportunity to really bring alive our History topic on the Tudors. During our visit, we created a timeline to represent the history of the house and found out about its famous owners. We explored the building, found evidence of Tudor architecture and compared this with the present day. We used Tudor portraits and artefacts as evidence of life in Tudor England. We were very lucky to wear replica Tudor costumes and loved learning a Tudor dance. We even saw the bed that was used by Henry VIII. This certainly was a day to remember!

Our Year 6 class had an incredible Victorious Viking Day in June 2021. The focus of their learning was to interpret the Viking and the Anglos Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England, deepening their historical understanding. Over the Wonder Day, Year 6 were able to understand the various sources of evidence to represent the past, interpreting these using primary and secondary sources of evidence from the era. They made links between key events from the Viking and Anglo Saxon perid, offering explanations about why people in the past acted in the way they did. They deepened their knowledge of interpreting History, continuity and change, cause and consequence and the significance of the era. I was beyond impressed with the learning that took place. Great effort Year 6! Watch our video to see snapshots of our learning!