LKS2 Topic Overview: the Romans in Britain

LKS2 Topic Overview: The Romans in Britain

Children learn about the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain at the time and the legacy it left us. Other than History, chn acquire and practise skills in Art, making Roman busts and mosaics, in D&T, building a chariot and an aqueduct, in Dance and Music, creating a dance/drama of an invasion and of a battle, in English, debating opposition or collaboration, and in Geography, understanding the location and extent of the Empire.

Block / Key NC Objectives / Creative Block Outcome
Block A
An Introduction to the Romans
[3 sessions] / History, English and Geography
·  Develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of world history, establishing clear narratives within the periods they study.
·  Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.
·  Devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference and significance.
·  Adopt, create and sustain a range of roles, responding appropriately to others in role.
·  Share and respond thoughtfully to performances.
·  Become more familiar with and confident in using language in a variety of situations and for a variety of audiences and purposes (including debate).
·  Locate countries, using maps to focus on Europe.
·  Understand key aspects of human geography (including types of settlement and land use). / Be introduced to the Romans. Learn a bit about the history of Rome – legend and fact – and understand where in Europe Rome is, and how the Romans came to extend their influence and create such a large and influential empire.
Block B
Life in Britain before the Romans
[3 sessions] / History and English
·  Develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British history (what Britain was like before the Romans came).
·  Begin to learn about Iron Age culture.
·  Discuss a text in a similar style to the writing they are planning, to understand and learn from its structure, vocabulary and grammar.
·  Draft and write non-narrative material, using simple organisational devices.
·  Participate in improvisations and role-play.
·  Ask relevant questions to extend their understanding and knowledge. / Learn about life in Britain before the Romans arrived and how the arrival of the Roman armies affected the Celtic tribes. Take different jobs and roles in a Celtic village. Debate whether to resist or collaborate and create Celtic shields.
Block C
The Roman Invasion of Britain
[5 sessions] / History, English, Art and Music
·  Develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study with regard to the Roman Empire.
·  Write clearly, accurately and coherently, adapting their language and style in and for a range of contexts.
·  Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role-play, improvisations and debate.
·  Develop techniques, including control and use of materials.
·  Understand the historical and cultural development of their art form.
·  Listen with attention to detail.
·  Appreciate and understand a wide range of high-quality music drawn from different traditions and from great composers and musicians. / The Romans are invading and children take the position of Celtic tribes. Understand the power and organisation of the Roman army and ask and answer historically relevant questions about why it was so successful. Decide whether it was better for the Celts to collaborate or resist the Romans – what advantages were there to collaboration.
Block D
Roman Entertainment
[6 sessions] / D&T and History
·  Research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals and groups.
·  Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design.
·  Understand and use mechanisms (e.g. wheels and axles) in their product.
·  Select from and use a wider range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities.
·  Select from and use a wider range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks accurately.
·  Evaluate their ideas and products against their own design criteria and consider the views of others to improve their work.
·  Understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world.
·  Understand that our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.
·  Know about the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain (Roman entertainment).
·  Select and organise relevant historical information.
·  Note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms.
·  Ask and address historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference and significance. / Explore the ways in which the Romans entertained themselves and others in the Empire by holding gladiator fights and chariot racing. Design and build your own chariot and then race it!
Block E
Mosaics
[5 sessions] / Art and History
·  Understand the historical and cultural development of art forms (mosaics).
·  Explore ideas to improve mastery of art and design techniques (printing).
·  Begin to evaluate and analyse their work.
·  Understand how knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.
·  Ask historically valid questions.
·  Learn about the Roman Empire and its impact/Romanisation of Britain. / Study Roman mosaics, understand why, when and how the Romans created these and their significance in Roman society. Using stick-printing techniques, create their mosaic pictures, which make a truly impressive display.
Block F
Boudicca’s Rebellion
[5 sessions] / History, English, and Art
·  Develop a chronologically secure knowledge and understanding of British, local and world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the periods they study.
·  Learn about the Roman Empire and its impact/Romanisation of Britain.
·  Participate in discussions, presentations, performances, role play, improvisations and debate.
·  Assess the effectiveness of their writing and suggest improvements.
·  Develop techniques, including the control and the use of materials and understand the historical and cultural development of their art form. / Study Boudicca’s rebellion. Consider life as a Celt under Roman rule and learn what went wrong to cause the rebellion led by Boudicca. Sequence the events leading to the Battle of Colchester and use music and dance/drama to act this out. Finally, paint a portrait of Boudicca.
Block G
The Roman Army and Busts
[4 sessions] / Art and History
·  Understand the historical and cultural development of art forms (3D portraiture).
·  Understand how art and design reflect history.
·  Evaluate and analyse their work and the work of others.
·  Explore their ideas to improve their mastery of art and design techniques with clay and record their observations in sketch books to revisit.
·  Develop a chronologically secure knowledge of world history, establishing clear narratives within and across the Roman era.
·  Understand how knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.
·  Understand the importance of Roman busts as historical evidence and their cultural and artistic significance.
·  Understand Roman art and the power of the Roman army.
·  Address and devise historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference and significance.
·  Construct informed responses that come from the selection of relevant historical information. / The Roman Army was disciplined and effective. What was its organisation? What were the Roman soldiers like and why did so many Britons join the Roman army? Learn about the army and then use this knowledge to help understand how Roman busts differed from their Greek equivalent. Create Roman busts in relief from clay.
Block H
Roman Buildings and Engineering
[6 sessions] / History, D&T, Science and Geography
·  Understand how our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.
·  Learn about the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain.
·  Select from and use a wide range of tools and equipment accurately to perform practical tasks.
·  Select and use a wide range of materials and components … according to their functional properties and aesthetic qualities.
·  Set up simple, practical enquiries, comparative and fair tests.
·  Use results to draw simple conclusions, make predictions for new values, suggest improvements and raise further questions.
·  Develop use of geographical knowledge, understanding and skills to enhance locational and place knowledge.
·  Name and locate counties and cities of the UK. / What buildings did the Romans build and for what purposes? How did they solve practical engineering problems such as providing enough water for their towns and cities, and enabling the army to get from A to B. Study Roman roads, buildings and aqueducts. Build models, carry out scientific tests and make a presentation of discoveries.
Block I
The Roman Legacy
[6 sessions] / History, English, Geography, Maths, Computing and Citizenship
·  Understand that our knowledge of the past is constructed from a range of sources.
·  Note connections, contrasts and trends over time and develop the appropriate use of historical terms.
·  Ask and address historically valid questions about change, cause, similarity and difference and significance.
·  Begin to understand the legacy left by the Romans on Britain and its impact on our subsequent history.
·  Construct informed responses that involve thoughtful selection and organisation of relevant historical information.
·  Speak audibly and fluently when reading a poem aloud.
·  Check that the text makes sense to them, discussing their understanding and explaining the meaning of the words in context.
·  Understand the etymology of words to understand the relationships between meaning and spelling.
·  Use dictionaries to check the meaning of words they have read.
·  Use the first two or three letters of a word to check its spelling in a dictionary.
·  Spell words with the /s/ sound spelt sc (Latin in origin).
·  Spell words correctly from the statutory list.
·  Read Roman numerals to 100 (I to C) and know that over time, the numeral system changed to include the concept of zero and place value.
·  Know the months of the year and the number of days in each month, year and leap year.
·  Name and locate cities of the UK.
·  Describe and understand key aspects of human geography including types of settlement and land use.
·  Begin to understand the role of law and the justice system in our society.
·  Use search technologies effectively, appreciate how results are selected and ranked, and be discerning in evaluating digital content.
·  Select and use software to accomplish given goals, including presenting data and information. / Learn about the Roman legacy – exploring those things that the Romans brought which affected our subsequent history and even our language. Study the cities, the rule of law, Roman numerals and the calendar we use today, and come to understand how many aspects of modern life can, in effect, be traced back in some way to the Romans.

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