Year 4 -

The Roman Empire and its impact on Britain

Enquiry Question What did the Romans ever do for me?

Learning Challenges • How was Britain influenced by the Roman Empire? • What was Britain like at the time when the Romans invaded? • What does ‘empire’ mean? • Who was Boudicca? • What was life like in the area around Greenwich during Roman times? . Why did the Romans leave Britain?

Key words  Romans  Londinium  empire  army  Boudicca  legacy  settlement  migration  invasion  conquest

Hook

Pupils were introduced to the topic through an artist’s impression of what the Roman remains, which were found and excavated in Greenwich Park, might’ve looked like. This impression prompted a lot of discussion, especially with the juxtaposition of the O2 Arena in the background.

I wasn’t sure what the building was. At first I thought it was a Villa but then my partner and I thought it might’ve been a farm because of the walls and shed.

Will

I was confused because I could tell the building was from ancient times but then I could see the O2 Arena background.

Matilda

We know Greenwich Park really well and we’ve never seen a building like that before. We were fascinated to know that there

are buildings buried beneath Greenwich Park that no one has

really seen. We were curious to know why they only found one

building. Was is it a palace or did no one want to live in the

park?

Max and Ibrahim

Our questions:

Who was the first Roman Emperor?

How many Roman Emperors were there?

When did Julius Caesar become Emperor?

When were the ‘Roman times’

How did the Roman Empire end?

How big was the Roman Empire?

How big was the Roman army?

Why were the Roman gods named after planets?

What were the clothes like?

What did they eat?

LC: Can I understand the meaning of the words settlement, migration and immigration and how they are different from invasion and conquest?

In this lesson, we talked about why people move from different parts of the country or between different countries and what do the terms immigration and invasion mean and how are they different?

Amelie

Sameer

LC: Can I relate the timescale of the Bronze Age work to the Roman invasion?

In this lesson, we used a timeline to look at prehistoric times, iron and bronze ages and the time of the Roman invasion.

The Romans wanted We learnt some Latin today. I Britain's precious found out that A.D is a Latin metals. They called phrase: anno domini (“in the year the land ‘Britannia’, of the Lord”—the year Jesus was which meant 'land of born). The Romans spoke Latin.

tin'. Anneka

Luke

I didn’t realise how long the Roman Empire lasted and how much they achieved. It was really impressive but I feel sorry for the countries that they invaded. It was obvious that the Romans just wanted to be rich and powerful. Amira

LC: Can I investigate the Roman Army?

In this lesson, we looked at the ethnic diversity of the army, its organisation and how the soldiers were trained. We also investigated the countries of origin of the troops

Most soldiers in the Roman Empire came from countries outside Italy. There were Roman soldiers from Africa, France, Germany, the Balkans, Spain and the Middle East. Amira

One of the main reasons Rome became so powerful was because of the strength of its army. It conquered a vast empire that stretched from Britain all the way to the Middle East. The army was very advanced for its time. The soldiers were the best trained, they had the best weapons and the best armour. Lateefat

LC: Can I write a Roman myth?

In English, we have been looking at the myth of Romulus and Remus. We then wrote our own myths based on the Roman gods and goddesses.

Christian

We then published our myths as ‘mini books’ and read them to the children in Reception.

LC: Can I write an ‘explanation’ text? For this, we used all the knowledge that we had gathered on the Roman army to explain why we would/wouldn’t want to be in the Roman army.

If you were in the Roman army, then you had to serve for a minimum of 25 years! That’s too long for me!

Piyush

Being a Roman soldier was something to be proud of as you were protecting your country.

Alexandros

Daniel

Roman armour wasn’t very good at protecting you in battles or from extreme weather. Maeve

Robbie

LC: Can I explore what it would have been like to live in London in Roman times? We looked at what life was like for children in the Roman times and then we wrote diary entries in role as a Roman child and a child living in 2018.

Maeve

Amira Heath

Max

LC: Can I investigate Boudica’s importance and why she is remembered today? In this session, we were studying the warrior, Boudicca and looking at why she was so important to the British people. We comparted different artists’ impressions of her and thought about why they had depicted her so differently.

Alexandros

Cirus

It’s very difficult to know exactly what Boudicca looked like or what she was like as everyone has a different idea.

Max

The Romans made Boudicca to look like a fierce warrior as they didn’t want people to know that she almost beat them in battle.

Dillan

What did the Romans ever do for me?