Milton Creek Memories: resources for the history classroom

1. Milton Creek Memories: resources for the history classroom

2. History and Geography Resources: how to use this pack The Milton Memories Project uses anecdotes, facts and opinions to bring the past alive and raise questions about the future. These learning resources are designed to help pupils enquire further and make connections between people, places and environments over time. This pack offers a range of enquiry led topics with accompanying resources that can be tailored by teachers to suit the needs of their class. It is aimed at Years 6 – 7 and could form the basis of a transition unit. Learning about the locality through first hand and secondary sources is an important and required aspect of both history and geography in the school curriculum. It is relevant and motivating for pupils as they will already have some knowledge of the local area that they can draw on to develop their understanding. Local studies also help pupils to make connections between important aspects of subject knowledge and their own everyday lives, enabling them to grasp the bigger picture and understand how they fit into it. There are a range of ideas for geography and history lessons and suggestions for extensions or follow up work. Each lesson has some accompanying resources such as activity sheets, images, maps and presentations for use with the classroom interactive whiteboard. There are also Teacher Notes. While these materials have been designed to compliment each other, teachers can pick and choose which lessons they teach, how they combine aspects of geography and history and if or how they make connections with other subjects.

3. History Resources: expected outcomes • These resources will enable pupils to develop their history knowledge, skills and understanding. • Most pupils will be able to: • describe some of the main events that characterized change in Sittingbourne and Milton Creek since 1800 and be able to give some reasons for them. • show their understanding that aspects of the past have been represented and interpreted in different ways. • select and combine information from different sources to do this and make appropriate use of dates and terms. • Some pupils will achieve more and be able to: • describe the characteristics of the main changes in Sittingbourne and Milton Creek since 1800 and make connections between them, giving reasons and explanations. • draw on their knowledge and understanding to evaluate and select sources of information, producing structured work. • Some pupils will not achieve as much and be able to: • Show their understanding that the past is divided into periods of time • Recognise some of the reasons for main events and changes • Identify some ways in which the past is represented

4. Contents 5-7How can we find out about the history of Sittingbourne? 8-10 What can we learn from Milton Creek about the changing story of British history? 11-13 How important were the different Milton Creek industries? 14-20 How useful are photographs for finding out about Milton Creek? 21-25 What makes quality oral history research? What makes a good Milton Creek story? 26-29 How should Milton Creek be remembered?

5. How can we find out about the history of Sittingbourne? (Teacher’s guide) This ripple diagram is intended to build from pupils’ current knowledge of their local history to develop a curiosity about the history of Sittingbourne. At the same time as asking what they know, it is asking how they know and how they can find out. This is to promote a knowledge and understanding of the process of historical enquiry and to begin to prepare them to carry out their own local history project. Some pupils might need some hints or structure to carry out this activity – perhaps a list of different periods or big events such as the Second World War, the coming of the railway, the building/ knocking down of a local landmark etc. They should be encouraged to include family history where possible, marking in when their family came to the Sittingbourne area or the role they played in the local economy/ community. Interviews can be found on the www.miltoncreekmemories.co.uk website under Interviews on the dropdown menu. Pupils should be encouraged to pick out the individual anecdotes, details and feelings that a personal witness can give to their experience. However, they might want to question reliability, typicality and accuracy. It is important, however, that pupils go away from this exercise with positive feelings about the valuable part oral history can play in building up a picture of the past. The overarching intention of this set of resources is to encourage pupils or groups of pupils to carry out their own local oral history enquiry. This initial lesson is intended as a completely open activity where pupils can state their own interests. These might lie in a local sports club, the experiences of women in the town, experiences of moving to the town, general social history of life/ music/ fashion/ work in a certain decade or experience in wartime.

6. How can we find out about the history of Sittingbourne?(Pupil instructions) Working in a small group complete the inference grid, starting with the centre box. Do people’s stories have a place in history? Listen to Irene Smith talking about living in Murston during the Second World War on the Milton Creek Memories website: http://miltoncreekmemories.co.uk/category/interview-wartime/ What can an individual witness tell us that might be difficult to find out from other sources? As historians, are there any reasons why we might need to be careful in using other people’s stories as historical evidence? 3. Go back to looking at the questions on your inference grid. If you were to do an oral history interview with somebody in Sittingbourne, who would you choose? Why? What period would you want to know about? What questions would you ask them?

7. How might you go about finding out the answers to these questions? What would you like to find out about the history of Sittingbourne? How do you know this? What do you know about the history of Sittingbourne?

8. What can we learn from Milton Creek about the changing story of British industry? (Teacher’s guide) This activity is intended to give an initial overview into the changing history of Milton Creek. The intended conceptual focus is change over time, but with clear links emphasised between local and national histories. The resource is set as a series of PowerPoint slides to be used with the project website, but if computers are not available, it could be done on paper. Groups could be given information on the different industries from the website which they then extract detail from and pass round. The activity is intended to be completed in three parts. It is essentially about creating a parallel timeline. The first line is relatively simple. Pupils are expected to extract relevant detail from the website and place it in the correct place on the timeline. Some pupils may require help in this area, but all pupils would benefit from the activity being modelled for them first. The second part of the activity, completing the second row, requires pupils to work with the idea of inference. They may not know for certain how changes in wider Britain affected Milton Creek, but they should be able to draw inferences about the need for bricks meaning more buildings are being built, the need for paper meaning more books and papers may be being printed. We are not necessarily looking for accuracy here, just initial ideas about the industrial revolution as it is played out locally. The third line has a focus on Sittingbourne and again asks for the use of inference skills. Here, hints might be useful, but pupils should quickly grasp the notion that more trade means more jobs, and trade ending will have an impact on job prospects. Task 4 asks pupils to stand back from their completed timeline and draw some broad conclusions about the changes taking place in Milton Creek and the wider world. Developing more challenging concepts of change, it asks pupils to make judgements about pace of change at different points in the time period. Task 5 looks further ahead in the project, trying to build on pupils’ sense of curiosity at this point and get them asking questions. This activity could be led in class, perhaps getting pupils to ask questions around the 5Ws of who, what, where, why, how. However, they might have more direct questions linked to their own experience in the town. Finding out the answers could lead to a discussion about the processes involved in historical research.

9. What can we learn from Milton Creek about the changing story of British industry? (Pupil instructions) Go to the website www.miltoncreekmemories.co.uk. Click on the ‘History’ button at the top of the page. Use the information that you find there to fill out as much detail as you can in the first row of the timeline. Now you need to use the skill of inference. Think about each of the changes you have included in your timeline. Do you think these changes suggest some broader changes that were taking place in Britain at this time? You will have to make some small guesses, based on the evidence, but see how many big changes you can write in row 2. Don’t forget to link them with arrows to the changes in row 1. For the last row you might need to read through the evidence on the website again. You are looking for any changes that would have affected Sittingbourne, the people of Sittingbourne and the growth of Sittingbourne. You might want to think about buildings, jobs and money to get you started. Have a look at your completed timeline. Were there periods of rapid change over these two centuries? Were there periods of continuity and stability? Could you chart the rise and fall of Milton Creek on your timeline? What about the changing nature of British industry? Historians often find that looking at limited resources like this leaves them with more questions than answers. For example, how did individual people experience the big changes that were taking place in Milton Creek? Now that you’ve started looking at the story of Milton Creek, do you have any questions that you’d like to find out the answer to? How might you find out the answers?

10. What can we learn from Milton Creek about the changing story of British industry? 1800 1825 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000 What’s happening in Milton Creek? How did changes in Britain affect Milton Creek? How did changes in Milton Creek affect Sittingbourne?

11. How important were the different Milton Creek industries? (Teacher notes) This series of activities is intended to help pupils explore the industry of Milton Creek in a little more depth. At the same time there is a focus on the use of evidence, value of evidence and the use of evidence to build up an argument. The first PowerPoint slide could form a series of instructions for the lesson. This incorporates a brief starter that links to pupils’ own knowledge of the town. The pupils quickly move into group work and are given source packs from which they must find out about a particular industry. They are extracting information for a purpose, building an argument as to why their industry was the most important on Milton Creek in the 1880s. The arguments from different industries could either be shared as presentations or in expert groups according to the particular class. The focus of the lesson, however, is not simply on industry in Milton Creek. The final plenary discussion should focus on the different types of evidence available to pupils. Did they find some of it more useful to their argument as there was more information available? Did they find themselves being careful with particular pieces of evidence? Why? Should historians treat all pieces of evidence equally? In this way the pupils can have an initial introduction into the concept of value of evidence. Interventions with particular pupils/ groups could seek to draw out this line of thinking earlier in the lesson.

12. How important were the different Milton Creek industries?

13. How important were the different Milton Creek industries? What are the important industries in Sittingbourne today? Individually, write down any industry that you know of in Sittingbourne and the surrounding area today. What industries existed in Sittingbourne in the 1880s? Discuss in pairs what you think the main industries might have been. You can use the pictures on this page as hints to help you. What can we find out about industry in Sittingbourne in the 1880s? Work in groups with a source pack and become an expert on one industry. What impact would that industry have had on Sittingbourne at this time? What impact might it have had on the rest of Britain? Work with your group to come up with some good arguments as you will need to convince others that yours was the most important industry on Milton Creek in the 1880s. Don’t forget that a strong argument is always supported by strong evidence. Which industry was the most important in Milton Creek? Now move to groups with one expert from each industry. Present your arguments to one another – you have about a minute each. Take time to jot down some notes. Are some types of evidence better than others for finding out about Milton Creek? Whole class discussion. Who found the maps useful in their argument? What about the photographs? Did anybody have difficulties with any particular evidence?

14. How useful are photographs for finding out about the history of Milton Creek? (teacher guide) Print out a set of 24 photos from the PowerPoint slides for each group of 5-6 pupils. (more can be found at www.miltoncreekmemories.co.uk) Sorting activities Ask the pupils to sort the photos (and one photo) in the following ways: photos/ painting those that show people/ those that show no people Photos from modern day/ pictures that show the past different industries – barge-building/ bricks/ paper/ cement Selection and justification Ask pupils to select 4 photos from the pack that reveal the most about the history of Milton Creek. They should move round to other tables comparing their choices with those of other pupils and being prepared to justify their choices. Whole class questions What can photographs reveal about the history of Milton Creek? Do we need to be careful when we use photographs to find out about the history of Milton Creek Which are more revealing for finding out about the history of Milton Creek – photographs or oral histories? Link back to overarching enquiry Could you use photographs or pictures to accompany your oral history project? What would those photographs need to be of? Could you take them today or would you need to see if they were available in an archive? What would a series of photographs/ pictures add to your project?

21. What makes quality oral history research? (Teacher guide) Besides a focus on local history and Milton Creek, this series of lessons is intended to prepare pupils to research their own piece of oral history. This series of activities is intended to prepare them for asking questions, listening, prompting participants, consideration of recording or taking notes and includes a few ideas on how to present their findings. This is the process of historical enquiry. You will want to set further guidelines yourself to best suit your pupils and your school. However, this type of project can work best when pupils work in pairs or threes of their own choosing with similar interests, as completing a good piece of research would be quite demanding for one pupil. It will be important to have a brief discussion with your pupils about the ethics involved in collecting other people’s stories, especially if you intend them to be shared or presented at the end of the project. It might be suitable to provide each group with a simple form that they can pass to their participant that explains the purpose of the project and the idea that the findings might be shared. Although pupils could hand in a simple transcript of the interview with questions and answers, I have usually found that they get more from finding three themes in the conversation, and writing or presenting about those. If you have the time in class it could be an idea to bring in a grandparent or a known member of the local community (perhaps a lunch supervisor?) so that pupils can try out some of their questions and see which ones provide the most informative responses. If you are concerned about your pupils’ ability to complete an independent oral history project, this could be one way of giving a small class the experience of finding out about the past from a live witness. The value of oral history lies with a trust in memory and an interest in memories. More able pupils may want to consider the relationship between memory and history.

22. What makes quality oral history research? (Teacher guide) Activity 1 Ask pupils to memorise one of the two sentences and give them a very short amount of time to do so. Although some will try to memorise the first, most will admit that the second is easier to remember. Why? Because it makes sense and because it tells a story. This is important for oral history research. Asking for a story might result in a better response than asking for a detail – so, ‘tell me about the clothes you used to wear in the 1970s?’ might provide more response than ‘what did you wear when you were young?’ Activity 2 is designed to support this. You may wish to prepare pupils further by helping them understand the difference between open and closed questions and perhaps preparing them with some question starters. Activity 3 is a short and simple activity to help pupils who might interview quieter participants, or people who are a bit nervous to start talking to a young teenager! Prompts might help them keep the conversation going and draw out the participant into something they are more comfortable talking about. Activity 4 gives the pupils an opportunity to trial their interview skills on one another and then to reflect on their practice. In the real interview, recording is probably easier than note-taking. Most mobile phones and iPods now have a recording facility so this may not be too problematic for groups of pupils. However, note-taking is still a good idea in case recordings get lost or sound quality is poor. If the participant agrees, your pupils may prefer to video the interview. The most important part of this activity is the reflection on technique. Activity 5 is intended as advice for after the interview has taken place. It is not particularly interesting to hear every word that the participant said, but it is good practice for pupils to be able to look for themes and extract key stories. You could change the way the research is presented according to your pupils’ capabilities.

23. What makes quality oral history research? (Pupil activity) Activity 1 You have 15 seconds to remember one of these sentences: Up so in at on so off up up the in to so The cat jumped out of the tree and ran under the gate. Activity 2 Try these questions out on your partner. Which ones get the most interesting response? What was the name of your first pet? What happened on your first day at school? Tell me about your best primary school teacher. Tell me all about your best ever day out.

24. What makes quality oral history research? (Pupil activity) Activity 3 Design some prompts for these two questions, in case you have a quiet participant. What kind of music did you listen to when you were a teenager? Why did you come to Sittingbourne to live? Activity 4 In a pair design 5 questions that you would like to ask your participant. Now try them out on another pair in the class. One of you should ask and listen. The other should be in charge of recording or taking notes. This is just a trial, so once you have completed the exercise take some time to reflect with your partner. What went well? What might you need to change? How did the taking notes work out? Why not ask the pair you interviewed how they think you could improve your interview technique?

25. What makes quality oral history research? (Pupil activity) Activity 5 Writing up/ Presenting your research Discuss your research with your partner. Are there some themes emerging in the answers from your participant? Could you write a short paragraph about three different themes? You could use quotes from your participant to support the points you make. Was there anything particularly interesting or juicy? Make sure you include that as your audience will enjoy it!

26. How should Milton Creek be remembered today? (Teacher guide) This last activity is intended to help pupils consider how industrial heritage should be remembered. There is a focus on an aspect of historical significance here, but also the opportunity to be creative and start taking notice of other memorials in the local community. The two examples included are from the town of Folkestone. One is a piece of art by Mark Wallinger that remembers soldiers that walked through the town on the way to World War One. The other is the result of a local project where people were asked to send in memories of particular places. There are several hundred of these plaques across the town and a book published to keep all the memories as the town changes. Pupils might be encouraged to consider whether it is worth remembering Milton Creek at its industrial peak.

27. How should Milton Creek be remembered today? (Pupil activity) • Your task is to use all you have learnt during this enquiry to design a fitting memorial to the workers of Milton Creek. • How will it represent the different people who lived and worked there? • How will it represent the different industries? • Will it be a plaque with writing, a series of pictures or a sculpture? • Where should it stand? • Could you think of something more creative?

28. How should Milton Creek be remembered today? (Pupil activity) Mark Wallinger’sFolk Stones. The precise number of beach pebbles collected and laid out into a massive square reveals a profound underpinning: 19,240 individually numbered stones stand for the exact number of British soldiers killed on 1st July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme. The work is inspired by the one million soldiers who left from Folkestone harbour to fight on the battlefields of France and Flanders.

29. Working closely with local people, Strange Cargo collected contributions for Everywhere Means Something to Someone - the people's guidebook to Folkestone. The book provides a glimpse beneath the surface of the town, sharing with visitors some of the intimate knowledge that makes the town feel like home for the people who live here. The book is full of advice on places to visit, personal stories, memories and walks. For people who do not have a copy to hand, there are also 200 small signs placed in locations across Folkestone that reproduce pages from the guidebook.