Year 1, History Detectives!

Year 1’s topic ‘Homes’ was brought to life recently, when they visited Milestones Museum in Basingstoke. The realistic street scenes, including shops stocked with wares from the time, allowed the children to immerse themselves in the past. They learnt about life in the 1940’s and what hard work it was to simply wash and iron clothes when visiting Maggie’s kitchen. They then had fun exploring the cobbled streets, fitting in a fun fact-file hunt, dressing up in period costumes and playing games at the pier. The transport was quite an eye-opener for them, as they realised that most people still didn’t have cars. With no automation, just taking care of everyday life was a full-time job. It was a memorable trip back into what is really quite recent history, but already seems like a long-lost world compared to their daily lives now.

We fitted in another fun, informative trip to Abbotts Ann where we played ‘detectives’, searching for clues to the past in the village. The children used crayons and maps to track their steps and explored the church and various key places across the village. They identified the different materials and features that form the fabric of the village - comparing the flint, thatch, brick, metal and glass. The children were amazed how ancient many of our buildings are and how clever people were to make such beautiful things with no help from modern machines.

Next term, we will be learning about ‘space’; we hope the trips will be out of this world!

Helena Thomas