» Primary to Secondary Transition

LESSONS

UNIT 1: The Victorians

• 7 FIRSTS explores and places in perspective the legacy of the Victorians, using a wordsearch and relating the words found to illustrations.
• 9 SILHOUETTES develops observation, drawing skills, dexterity and historical insight. Students make cut-out silhouette self portraits. (Art)
• 11 PLAY AND PASTIMES explores rich and poor Victorian children's use of leisure time. Students make a Victorian-style low-tech toy - a thaumatrope. (Art, D&T, History)
• 13 TANGRAMS is a practical activity teaching the composition of geometric shapes, as well as accurate measurement. Students make, cut out and apply tangrams. (Maths)

UNIT 2: World War Two

• 15 DECLARATION engages students practically in a historical aspect of communications. Students make mock wireless sets and roleplay family reaction to the declaration of war.
• 17 EVACUATION develops empathy and awareness, as well as the skill of writing for a purpose, through a scripting exercise based on wartime evacuation. (English, History)
• 19 RATIONING gives practice in arithmetic (division, addition, estimating) and budgeting. Students work out a family budget and relate it to coupons. (Maths)
• 21 SHELTER students practise designing and building to scale, at the same time as learning about wartime air-raid shelters. (Maths, D&T)

UNIT 3: Sport

• 23 SPORTS CENTRE makes students aware of which sports and keep-fit activities are available, and reasons for doing them. They plan and design a sports centre.
• 25 PERFECT PITCH teaches drawing to scale, addition, division, multiplication and area. Students complete a diagram of a football pitch, and make related calculations. (Maths)
• 27 STRIKER improves football and record-keeping skills. Students observe and record each other's attempts to score from a given position, then calculate success rates. (PE, ICT, Maths)
• 29 FITNESS makes students aware of different aspects of fitness. Students measure pulse-rate as a measure of fitness. (Science, PE, Maths)

UNIT 4: Electricity

• 31 ENERGY introduces students to traditional and alternative energy sources, asking them to compare different sources, and energy saving.
• 33 ELECTRICAL DEVICES shows how electrical devices change electricity into other forms of energy, using laboratory experiments. (Science)
• 35 LIGHTNING FLASH shows how language is used metaphorically, in this case relating to electricity. Students devise a concrete poem on an electrical theme. (English)
• 37 SIMPLE SAFETY encourages an awareness of electrical safety. Students spot dangers and design a poster. (PSHE, Art, ICT)

UNIT 5: Myself

• 39 THE STORY SO FAR develops students' sense of self, and of what has shaped their character, through a biographical exercise in which they storyboard their lives.
• 41 HEALTHY EATING encourages students to examine their diet and how to improve it. They draw a diagram showing their dietary intake. (Home economics, Science)
• 43 HOW TO SAY NO helps students to understand what drugs are and how to avoid or resist them, as well as how to categorise information and present it in leaflet form. (PSHE, English)
• 45 LOCAL IMPROVEMENTS asks students to map and evaluate their local area and suggest improvements. (Geography)

UNIT 6: Change

• 47 FACES Students consider how they adapt to different company and situations, and are asked to match speech bubbles with pictures, and to identify informal, more formal and formal styles of speech.
• 49 REVERSIBLE OR NOT? shows that heat can cause many things to change, and that only some of these changes are reversible. Students predict and test. (Science)
• 51 WELCOME TO BRITAIN explores differences between Britain and France, including simple language. Students design a 'tip card' for a French person moving to Britain. (French)
• 53 CHANGING TUNES makes students think about the origins of music and musical instruments, and the influences shaping their evolution. Students match up eras with illustrations. (Music)
• 55 EVALUATION is a questionnaire to evaluate students' experience of the school visit.
• 61 STARTING SCHOOL is a pro forma to remind students of first-day essentials.