Creating cave paintings, writing instructions on how to make bronze and making round houses out of clay are among activities that have taken Year 3 children at Ramsgate Arts Primary back to the dawn of human civilisation.
As part of their history topic ‘Stone to Iron’ the year group has explored the important historical and social developments that spanned millennia from the Stone Age, through the Bronze Age and Iron Age leading up to the Roman invasion of Britain.
They heard how archaeologists believe they may have uncovered the first evidence of Julius Caesar’s invasion of Britain in 54BC. The discovery of a defensive ditch and weapons led them to identify Pegwell Bay in Thanet as the place they believe the Romans landed.
Activities have also included writing newspaper articles about Otzi the Iceman, the natural mummy of a man who lived between 3350 and 3105 BC. Otzi was discovered in September 1991 in the Otztal Alps (hence the nickname Otzi) at the border between Austria and Italy.
Pupils have also found out Skara Brae in the Orkneys, one of Britain’s most fascinating prehistoric villages that was built and occupied between 3000BCE and 2500BCE, during what’s called the Neolithic era or New Stone Age.
They have also been engaged in creating adverts publicising the monoliths at Stonehenge and writing diary entries by children from the Mesolithic era.
A fact-finding outing was made to Dover Museum to see the historic find of a Bronze Age boat that was unearthed in 1992 by construction workers building the A20 road link between Folkestone and Dover.
Teachers Kiki Amin and Alice Mann said: “To enrich their learning experience, we took Year 3 to Dover Museum to see the Bronze Age boat in particular, but also to take part in two workshops.
“One workshop saw the children channelling their creativity into making their own clay boats with museum creative Hannah which they can keep; the other was an interactive artefact investigation workshop led by Diana from the museum where they could explore various artefacts/replicas. This included handling tools that were many thousands of years old which amazed our pupils.
“It was particularly rewarding for the Year 3 team to see how much knowledge, confidence and excitement the children demonstrated in each session when asking and answering questions and handling prehistoric artefacts.
“They have absolutely loved this topic work, especially with its links to Caesar and our coastline, and because of the ‘mysterious’ origins and discoveries linked to Skara Brae, Otzi the Iceman and the druids.”
Staff also praised the Southeastern rail staff at both Ramsgate and Dover Priory Stations. They added: “Big thanks go to them all, especially Warren who supported us with our return back to school amidst possible disruption. He was incredible and we were very grateful for his advice. “