History

Great Harwood St John's CE History Intent

At St John's Primary School, we believe that the teaching of fun, engaging lessons that bring history to life helps to inspire children to know more about the past and to think and act as historians. The history curriculum enables our children to gain knowledge and understanding of the past within our own locality, our country and the wider world. They will learn about the complexity of peoples lives, the diversity of societies and the relationships between different groups of people in the past. Children will develop historical skills and concepts through detailed studies of key knowledge from different historical periods, including chronological understanding, continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity and difference.

We aim to take the children on a 'historical journey' that fosters an interest in the past and develops an understanding of that enables them to enjoy all that history has to offer.

An Historic Day: King Charles' Coronation - St John's Family Picnic, Games and Visit from the Town Crier!

The Town Crier - St John's Family Coronation Picnic & Games Day!

The National Anthem - St John's Family Celebration Day for The Kings Coronation

Whole School History Day 2023

We were very excited to celebrate the history of our local area Great Harwood with a whole school history day. We began the day with a visit from the Town Crier. He explained his job role and why Town Criers were needed in the past as people couldn't read and so needed to hear the news out loud. We also learned about the history of Town Criers dating back to the first Olympic Games in Greece.
We then discussed the different parts of his uniform and what they were for e.g. the feather in his hat used to be used for writing. We also discussed how many people were poor in the past and didn't have very nice clothes to wear so the Town Criers outfit set them apart.
He then showed us how Town Criers use the bell to get people's attention before telling them the news. It was very loud!

The children then went back to class to begin activities linked to a specific area of our town's history (see below)

Robins: The War Memorial

Herons: Transport (The railway and viaduct)

Kestrels: John Mercer

Kingfishers: The families of Great Harwood (Hesketh, Nowell and Lomax)

Falcons: Industry (The Cotton Mills)

Owls: Martholme Colliery

The children's finished work was displayed in the school hall (See photos below - History Day Class Displays)