Lower 4 'History Around Me' Project

After launching 3 years ago during the pandemic, the Lower 4 (year 7) ‘History Around Me’ project has gone from strength to strength.

The aim of the project is to give L4 students an opportunity to research and put together a project on an aspect of history that is personal to them. Students are free to explore a period of history or event that they find fascinating, to pursue local history or to examine family history. Across L4 many students looked at the family history aspect and examined their own personal pasts by interviewing relatives or collecting information on key figures. This resulted in many students having meaningful discussions or calls with relatives.

Students are encouraged to develop their own research and independent working skills by completing the project. They set themselves goals to accomplish each week and are free to present their work in a way that is personal to them.

This year the history department have been delighted at the diversity of topics covered by L4s including family history, Jack the Ripper, Tiananmen Square protests, the Chinese Civil War, the Yoruba tribe of Nigeria, Old Sarum, relatives in the Army/Navy and local histories of Marlow and historical houses.  

The projects were showcased last week with the whole year group getting an opportunity to show their projects. Students presented their work using PowerPoint, scrapbooks, interviews, posters and videos. It was a lovely morning and many of the L4s have enjoyed the project because of the way it has allowed them to talk to family about their own past.

I was thoroughly impressed by the quality of your work and that you had all delved into a topic that was unique to you. It was lovely to see the research you had done and the care you had taken with the presentation. Very well done!

- Head, Ms Purves to the Lower 4