Hamilton

Hamilton Topics are available on subscription only by clicking here.

User Guide to Topics

We have tried to make each topic as broad and as versatile as possible. This means that you can choose whichever aspects of the subject really inspire you and which will ‘light up’ the children in your class!  There is so much material here – and it is structured so as to ensure progression as well as coverage in each subject – that it will take a while to become used to planning with these!

Print off your Overview by choosing a Topic and clicking Overview on the Search page. The Theme Chart gives you a visual overview of the whole topic and there is a chart of the Programmes of Study covered in Foundation Subjects and Science for all Topics in your age range to help with long term planning.

About the structure

• Themes are used to structure the Topic – each Theme is presented as one of four columns in the Theme Chart. A Theme guarantees progression in particular subjects, e.g. In Clothes and Coverings, Theme 3 focuses Science and Technology.
• Teach down or across – it is possible to approach the teaching of the topic in two ways:
  • Down, teaching down a Theme each week – choosing several sessions from one Theme so as to teach a progression of activities in one or two linked subjects for a week or more. After this section of the Topic is completed, you move to another Theme and teach down that one. 
  • Across, teaching each subject – choosing a History session from Theme 1, a Geography session from Theme 2, a Science session from Theme 3 and an Art session from Theme 4. In the following week, a second History session is selected from Theme 1, a second Geography session from Theme 2, and so on. The progression in each subject is preserved across the weeks, and each subject is taught each week.
• Linked sessions – within each Theme, and VERY occasionally across Themes, there are groups of linked sessions. It usually helps children's learning to teach these as a set – although this can be across quite a time-span. For example, there may be three or four sessions all around a field trip – preparing, doing the trip, feeding back and publishing the findings. 

Plan your personal topic bank

1. Look down each Theme to see the progression of subject-based activities.
2. Look across the four Themes to see the spread of curriculum areas. The main curriculum areas covered are noted at the top of each Theme column.
3. Look at the sets of linked sessions which act as mini-topics within the larger whole of each Theme. Please note that the sessions are only linked within Theme columns.
4. Consider the resources required, looking at the sets of sessions to see what books and other materials are needed.
5. Choose sessions for a given time period, e.g. five sessions for a week, one per afternoon. It is then prudent to select potential sessions for the next week. It will then be possible to deselect these and change your mind as appropriate at the end of the first week. Thus the planning can be iterative, constantly changing in response to what has been taught.
6. View the National Curriculum coverage both for the general curriculum areas (the coloured % figures) and also for each subject (by clicking Coverage).

Hamilton Topics are constructed for interactive planning online.
As you get used to this you will discover the flexibility and versatility of this process. Where possible we have provided advice and Help – PLEASE READ THIS!