From primary to Priory - the Humanities department

On Monday, 24 pupils from our partner primary schools joined us for a Humanities Primary Day here at Priory.  Pupils enjoyed sampling lessons and activities from the three subject areas of History, Geography and RE to get a flavour of what Humanities is all about at secondary school.  The theme for the day was ‘Volcanic Disasters’.

Pupils from St Stephens, Longton, New Longton, Walton Le Dale, Much Hoole and Ashbridge Primary Schools spent the morning session with our Head of Humanities, Mr Metcalfe and our Lead History Teacher, Mr Eccles working on team-building activities so that the pupils could interact and get to know each other better before the day unfolded.  Pupils played ‘The Floor is Lava’ game, where they had to work together and communicate effectively to make their way from one side of the gym to the other without touching the floor, using only a limited amount of equipment.

Mr Eccles taught a History lesson about the story of Pompeii and the 79AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius.  Students had to work both independently and with their peers to use source material to gather evidence about what happened on that fateful day, and use GCSE analysis skills to show how different sources of information offer contrasting viewpoints about the eruption.
 

Following this, students took part in a Geography lesson with Mr Metcalfe which followed on from the morning activities, where students looked at how volcanoes form, the two main types of volcano and the effects of volcanic eruptions on people and the environment.  Mr Metcalfe showed pupils the different types of rocks that volcanoes eject, including pumice stone to help stretch and challenge the students further.

Mr Metcalfe commented, “The day was an excellent opportunity for our primary school pupils to get a taste of what life is like in a secondary school, and a great introduction to the Humanities faculty staff”.

“I would personally like to thank Mr Eccles and Mrs Farley for their support in planning such a successful visit. In addition to this, our superstar Year 8 helpers were a credit to the school and helped support the primary students not only around the school, but worked closely with them in lesson too.  Our helpers were Josie M, Emily B, Charlie E-H and James M.”

Pupils left Priory very excited about the day and couldn’t wait to tell their friends all about it.