National Curriculum links
National Curriculum guidelines state that History should impart knowledge, skills and understanding through the following five key elements:
- Chronology
- Events
- People and changes in the past
- Historical Enquiry
- Historical interpretation
The dataset provided by the Scheme lends itself to the study of these key elements; it is a way of making what can be quite an abstract and dry subject matter, tangible, touchable and real to children and older learners alike.
Several areas have been identified where the Scheme’s dataset is closely aligned to the History National Curriculum. These are:
Key stage 1 | Key Stage 2 | Key Stage 3 | Key Stage 4
Key Stage 1 (KS1):
How are our toys different from those in the past? (Ways of life module)
What were homes like a long time ago? (Ways of life module)
Knowledge, skills and understanding at KS1 should be delivered with key elements in mind, 2 of which are directly relevant to:
- Changes in their own, their family’s and others’ way of life
- The way of life of people in the more distant past
Key Stage 2 (KS2):
The British History element is the area that ties-in most obviously with the work of the Scheme at this level. This is demonstrated through a Roman Case Study, Anglo-Saxon Case Study or Viking Case Study within the Romans, Anglo Saxons and Vikings modules , there is also scope, within the Tudor times module:
• What were the differences between the lives of the rich and poor people in Tudor time?
• Britain and the wider world in Tudor times (we have good tie ins here with both domestic objects and looking at wider issues of trade)
Key Stage 3 (KS3):
Within KS3, the Schools History Project (SHP)is the best area for the Scheme to link with, (AQA and OCR syllabuses), alongside aspects of Welsh/English and the World History option offered by the WJEC examining body.Other Schemes of Work that the PAS could offer educational material for would be:
• What is it all about? (Introductory unit module)-data, analysis, interpretation skills, who is finding history/archaeology
• How hard was life for medieval people in town and country? ( Britain 1066 – 1500)
Key Stage 4 (KS4):
Options at both AS Level and A2 level include period, specialist, comparative and investigative study that would benefit from the Scheme’s educational resources. These are AQA, CCEA and WJEC options at AS Level, and the AQA, EDEXCEL, OCR and WJEC options at A2 Level.
However, as only a small proportion of children actually take history as a discrete subject at school other specific subject areas have been examined.
Geography
The National Curriculum for Geography also has many areas where not only does the dataset generated by the Scheme tie in with the syllabi and schemes of work but also it could be a really valuable teaching and learning resource.
The identified areas are:
Key Stage 1 (KS1):
- Fieldwork skills (using maps and plans and making maps and plans)
- Changing places
- Observe and record
Key Stage 2 (KS2):
- Enquiry – ask questions, collect evidence, analyse, explain different views, communication
- Skills – fieldwork techniques; draw scale plans; use ICT; decision making
- Patterns and processes – physical and human features, processes and causing change
Key Stage 3 (KS3):
- Enquiry – ask questions, appropriate investigation, evidence, conclusions, values & attitudes, communication
- Skills- fieldwork techniques; draw scale plans; use ICT; decision making
- Patterns and processes- physical and human features, processes and their impacts
From the academic year 2004 – 5, both History and Geography will be required to contain an ICT module and the searchable front end of the Scheme’s on-line database allows easy access and useful data patterning for both teachers and students to use, whilst other web resources, provided by the Scheme can be incorporated into lessons.
Citizenship
The other main subject of consideration for the Scheme is that of Citizenship. This is a relatively new and mandatory subject which offers perhaps the most effective way to reach out to a large number of formal learners.
Citizenship offers perhaps less clear-cut or obvious tie ins, although the detail of the syllabi and several themed modules do directly tie in with what the Scheme can offer to teachers and educators. It can provide a resource for looking at topical issues, conflicts, intricate problems and differing points of view. These are all core issues within Citizenship.
The combination of rapid assessment or survey and distillation of national curricula orders has allowed a forward plan for the initial phase of PAS education
What do we mean by learning through the Portable Antiquities Scheme?
We are adopting the Campaign for Learning’s definition:
“Learning is a process of active engagement with experience. It is what people do when they want to make sense of the world. It may involve the deepening or development of skills, knowledge, understanding, awareness, values, ideas and feelings, or an increase in the capacity to reflect. Effective learning leads to change, development and the desire to learn more.”
Learning through the Scheme offers a different, exciting, kinaesthetic learning experience that is based around real, physical objects that provide a tangible link with our own past. By utilising artefact-based learning, a local focus can give those handling objects a way of touching the past from where they live . The Scheme differs substantially on a regional level, reflecting the archaeology, the topography, the land use and the people. It is the largest community archaeology project that this country has ever seen.
Learning through the Scheme can take place at various levels, including primary and secondary school, as part of lessons from Key Stage 1 through to Key Stage 4 in a wide variety of subject areas and out of school in clubs such as the Young Archaeologists’ Club or in activity sessions at local museums and libraries.
