Herstory
For most of history, anonymous was a woman - Virginia Woolf. This history project explores the lives and careers of women who overcame adversity to achieve great things and although many have been overlooked or forgotten by popular history, they have amazing stories to inspire all children.
This project uses the creative arts to bring these fascinating women to life and to show how passion for a topic or subject can be turned into an exciting career pathway or sometimes even history-making event!
Choose where to focus the project from the following options: Artists and Performers, Women in Literature, Women in STEM or Politicians.
The project consists of 6 x 60 minute sessions, delivered over a half term culminating in a short parent sharing.
Sessions 1-4: Each session will include a mixture of drama, poetry, music and art to provide a multi-sensory, memorable experience as we explore the life and career of a different female historical figure each week.
Session 5: This session focuses on bringing together our new knowledge and understanding, to compare and contrast the women previously explored and from this, to create a short performance piece.
Session 6: This session consists of final rehearsal and a sharing for parents and/or the rest of the school.
We have talked in the classroom and in assembly about women through history who have achieved great things, many of whom have gone largely unnoticed. It was great for the children to hear this from someone other than a teacher - it lends it more credence somehow! The children enjoyed working in groups to compile and present their work to parents and demonstrated their learning confidently. As well as working with peers that they may not usually be grouped with, the children enjoyed listening to each other and sharing their ideas. It was interesting for the children to see a range of different ways in which to show their work. The range of women studied was wide and children enjoyed finding out about their different talents and skills. The activities used were imaginative and engaged the children well. The tasks were focused and allowed all children to participate fully. It was useful to be able to follow the work up in class. I would definitely repeat this project. I think this could make a great unit of work that includes history and geography as well as PHSE topics. Headteacher, Curridge Primary School