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Key Stage 1 Local Studies: Our School and Local Area
Our School

  • Rosie the Hen takes a walk around the farmyard and then takes a second walk around our school! Plot a route for her and then answer her questions about the unique history of the school and its locality before carrying out a travel and traffic survey to answer more of Rosie's questions.

Session 1 Rosie's first walk

Objectives

Geography

  • Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.
  • Use simple compass directions and locational and directional language to describe the location of features and routes on a map.

Lesson Planning

Bossy puppet gives directions and/or instructions to create a route. Children devise own route and record as a plan.  ‘Rosie’s Walk’ by Pat Hutchins.

Teaching Outcomes
To give and follow directions/instructions; to record directions/instructions as a simple route.

Children will:

  • Follow instructions to move around classroom: turn right, touch the window; turn left, open the door; go under the nearest table; go round the furthest chair.
  • Copy puppet’s modelling to give directions/instructions to partner.
  • Record directions/instructions as a route, using symbols.
  • Use another pair’s recording to work out their route.
  • Learn about the points on a compass.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
  • Rosie the hen, soft toy or ‘bossy’ puppet
  • A3 paper and felt tip pens
  • Compass points poster
  • Compass

Session 2 Rosie's second walk

Objectives

Geography

  • Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.
  • Use simple compass directions and locational and directional language to describe the location of features and routes on a map.

Lesson Planning

Rosie takes a 2nd walk around our school!  She’s occasionally a little naughty and might run in the corridor, skip around the hall or knock on HT’s door and run away! Devise a route for Rosie.

Teaching Outcomes
To plan a route for Rosie to journey around the school.

Children will:

  • Plan with TP a journey for Rosie around the school.
  • Write instructions as captions, using prepositions.
  • Combine captions with others and plot on plan of school; ensure a consecutive order.
  • Make a playdough Rosie to journey the route.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
  • ‘Rosie’ soft toy or puppet
  • Using images from the book list of prepositions used: across, around, over, past, through, under
  • Compass points poster
  • Strips of A4 card for caption writing
  • Copy of plan of school for each group

Session 3 Rosie's questions

Objectives

Geography

  • Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.
  • Use simple compass directions and locational and directional language to describe the location of features and routes on a map.

History

  • Understand significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.

Lesson Planning

Can we answer Rosie’s questions about our school? But first we have to go on an egg hunt to find the questions, hidden in the outside learning area!

Teaching Outcomes
To refer to Rosie’s route to identify locations in her questions.
To use local research and knowledge to investigate and answer Rosie’s questions about Our School.

Children will:

  • Take part in an Egg Hunt to find Rosie’s questions.
  • Use local resources to investigate and answer Rosie’s questions about specific historical and/or geographical features of Our School.

You Will Need

  • Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
  • Rosie soft toy or puppet
  • Plastic eggs, containing questions from Rosie
  • Resources about history of school, old photos, yearbooks, local history books

Session 4 I-Spy!

Objectives

Geography

  • Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.
  • Use simple compass directions and locational and directional language to describe the location of features and routes on a map.

History

  • Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.

Lesson Planning

Invite visitors to share their local knowledge of school. Produce ‘I Spy’ booklets to highlight historical or geographical features of our school.

Teaching Outcomes
To refer to Rosie’s route to identify locations in her questions.
To listen to visitor’s local knowledge to answer Rosie’s questions; create an ‘I spy spotter guide’ pertinent to Our School.

Children will:

  • Listen to visitors; ask questions to find out more.
  • Use local resources to further investigate our school.
  • Assemble ‘I-Spy’ booklet to highlight historical or geographical features of Our School.

Provided Resources

  • Suggestions for different layouts and formats

You Will Need

  • Visitor(s) with local knowledge and resources to share
  • I-Spy guides
  • Clip boards, paper, pencils and erasers

Weblinks

No weblinks in this session

Session 5 Travel to school survey

Objectives

Geography

  • Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.

Maths (Statistics)

  • Interpret and construct simple pictograms, tally charts, block diagrams and simple tables.
  • Ask and answer simple questions by counting the number of objects in each category and sorting the categories by quantity.
  • Ask and answer questions about totalling and comparing categorical data.

Lesson Planning

Rosie’s noticed none of the children have wings – how do they get to school? They obviously can’t fly (as Rosie would!)

Teaching Outcomes
To create a simple block graph to show results of a travel to school survey; think about local travel options; road safety.

Children will:

  • Create a block graph to show how chn travelled to school that morning.
  • Paint mode of transport to create visual wall display.
  • Write road safety rules for pedestrians, cyclists (scooter riders), drivers; add to display.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Rosie puppet
  • Square sticky note, 1 for each child
  • paper and painting equipment
  • Pre-prepared block graph A1 size, with title ‘How did we travel to school this morning?’ together with two axes labelled ‘Number of children’ and ‘How we travelled’

Session 6 Traffic survey

Objectives

Geography

  • Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.

Maths (Statistics)

  • Interpret and construct simple pictograms, tally charts, block diagrams and simple tables.
  • Ask and answer simple questions by counting the number of objects in each category and sorting the categories by quantity.
  • Ask and answer questions about totalling and comparing categorical data.

Lesson Planning

Rosie’s received a letter from a friend who is coming to visit! Friend doesn’t drive – how can they get to school? Which vehicles drive past our school?

Teaching Outcomes
To investigate the traffic passing the school in order to issue travel advice to Rosie’s friend; conduct a traffic survey.

Children will:

  • Conduct a simple traffic survey to reply to Rosie’s friend.
  • Draw conclusions from traffic survey.
  • Make a plan of the school so Rosie’s friend can find their way around.
  • Sing songs about travelling and vehicles.

Provided Resources

  • Letter to Rosie from her friend
  • Traffic survey tally sheet

You Will Need

  • Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
  • Rosie look-alike puppet
  • Envelope for letter from Rosie’s friend
  • Clip board for each child

Session 7 Time machine!

Objectives

Geography

  • Use simple fieldwork and observational skills to study the geography of their school and its grounds and the key human and physical features of its surrounding environment.
  • Use simple compass directions and locational and directional language to describe the location of features and routes on a map.

History

  • Significant historical events, people and places in their own locality.

Lesson Planning

Wow! Rosie’s friend owns a time machine! Friend’s next visit is to the future! What will the schools be like then?

Teaching Outcomes
To create plans for a school in the future.
To realise that changes occur over time and speculate about possible changes in the future.

Children will:

  • Discuss ideas for schools in the future.
  • Give reasons for their ideas.
  • Draw and label a plan for a futuristic school.
  • Begin to realise how some things change over time.

Provided Resources

This session does not need any provided resources.

You Will Need

  • Cardboard box time travelling machine
  • Rosie’s Walk by Pat Hutchins
  • Rosie puppet
  • Rosie’s friend puppet