Understanding Maps and Symbols

In Expedition, Crew Wilkinson have moved onto Case Study 2 focusing on being a geographer. We began by exploring maps, symbols and our local area. Using a key, we were able to identify our own school, local golf courses, roads, woodlands, places of worship and most importantly Bullcroft Colliery! These skills will support our understanding as we explore maps further. We will be identifying changes over time and locating previous mines across the UK! Great start Crew Wilkinson.

Interviewing an Ex Miner

Crew Hamill and Crew Wilkinson were visited by an ex-miner who came to share his detailed experiences of working within the British coal mines. He shared moments of joy and camaraderie with his workers and stories of tragedy when accidents occurred. We were engrossed in his experiences and through this process, we developed a deeper understanding of how more modern mines operated and what a day in the life of a miner was like. Afterwards, the children had many prepared questions to ask to ensure that we got the most from the experience and allowed us to embed our understanding.

You can listen to the interview if you follow this QR code.

Dangers in the Mines

Crew Wilkinson deepened their understanding on the early conditions of the mine from the last lesson by exploring the dangers that people faced due to these conditions. To begin with, we looked at some artefacts that would have been used within the mine (helmet, gloves, pickaxe etc.) and discussed what these told us about working in a mine (e.g you could hit your head, get blisters on your hands, be injured by the pickaxe). We then worked in mini crews to create freeze frames of some mining situations that all involved a danger which helped us empathise with a miner’s plight. Can you guess what these are from our photos?

Finally, we got into the roles of miners and interviewers. We split into small groups and each group was given a role to play based on the experiences in the mine (ranging from young Victorian children in the mine to grown individuals who have worked in the mine their whole life and developed health conditions from the work). This further embedded the children’s understanding of empathy for the miners.

Timeline of Key Mining Events

Crew Wilkinson took a close look at the mining industry, how it has changed over time and the reasons for changing. We started by piecing together a timeline of key events through mining history then began to look at these critically and reason why they might have happened. E.g. Why did the increase of steam trains require more coal? We then categorised these changes into political, social and technological to further embed the reasoning for change.

Strike, strike, strike!!

Crew Hamill and Crew Wilkinson had so much fun causing a little mischief on the streets of Carcroft whilst taking part in our very own strike. We showed a united front whilst fighting for what we believe in – a school with no uniform and a 4 day school week (no Fridays!!).

Thank you to everyone who cheered us on when they saw us and to those who gave us a beep of their horn!

Taking Strike Action

To hook us into our learning, we are going on STRIKE! Today, we have learnt all about the coal mine strikes and the reasonings as to why these took place. We were shocked to find out that 142,000 people actually went on strike when Margaret Thatcher tried to close 20 mines in 1984. Did you know that people who didn’t go on strike were called scabs?! Inspired by what we have learnt, we are planning our own strike! We have decided that school uniform should be a thing of the past! This afternoon, we have designed and created placards which we are going to use when we go on strike later in the week. Keep your eyes peeled – we may just march past your house!

Exploring Shadows!

Today, in Crew Wilkinson we conducted a science experiment to explore how the size of a showdown changes based on the distance of an object from a light source. We observed that when the object was closer to the light, the shadow appeared larger, and as the light source moved further away the shadow became smaller.WE LOVE SCIENCE!