LINKS TO THE CURRICULUM

The value of fieldwork

Fieldwork is a valuable experience for children and students. Fieldwork enhances the curriculum through direct experience. Carrying out fieldwork investigations on site develops knowledge and understanding of events, people and changes in the past. It develops the skills needed to carry out research and to find out about the past, and of using the past to understand the present. In the arts, young people can also take inspiration from the lives and achievements of previous generations to create their own responses to the sites they visit.

History

History fires pupils’ curiosity about the past in Britain and the wider world. Pupils learn about significant people, events and places from the past. They learn about change and continuity in their own area, in Britain and in other parts of the world. They look at history in a variety of ways, for example from political, economic, technological and scientific, social, religious, cultural or aesthetic perspectives. They use different sources of information to help them investigate the past both in depth and in overview, using dates and historical vocabulary to describe events, people and developments. The study of history involves the development of knowledge, skills and understanding. An historical study of the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site could include the development of the following areas of knowledge, skills and understanding:

Key Stage 1

Historical enquiry

Pupils should be taught:

how to find out about the past from a range of sources of information, for example pictures and photographs, artefacts, historic buildings and visits to museums, galleries and sites. So, for example, a visit to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site could include a visit to the Derby Museum and Art Gallery to see the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby who painted such famous people as Sir Richard Arkwright, and visits to the historic mill buildings in Derby, Belper, Cromford or Matlock Bath to see where men, women and children worked in the past, or visits to the sites or industrial settlements at Darley Abbey and Cromford to see how men women and children lived in the past. At some of the mill sites the children would be able to handle artefacts, use old photographs and pictures, dress up as factory workers and work simple machinery.

Breadth of study

During the key stage, pupils should be taught the knowledge, skills and understanding through the following areas of study:

  • about the way of life of people in the more distant past who lived in the local area or elsewhere in Britain. Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site includes several industrial settlements where children can look at the houses, churches, schools and factories that show how men, women and children lived and worked in the past, especially Darley Abbey, Belper and Cromford.
  • about the lives of significant men, women and children drawn from the history of Britain and the wider world. Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site is the place where, in Derby, John Lombe built the Silk Mill; Britain’s first manufactury. Where at Cromford, Sir Richard Arkwright, engineer, inventor and entrepreneur, began what we know as the Industrial Revolution in the cotton industry. A visit to Cromford industrial village and the Cromford and Masson Mills, and Willersley Castle, the church, school and market place and the canal and canal wharf will bring this significant man to life. The lives of other locally famous men, such as Jedediah Strutt and William Strutt can be investigated at Belper industrial village and at North Mill, or the Evans family at Darley Abbey industrial village and mills.

 

Key Stage 2

Historical enquiry

Pupils should be taught:

how to find out about the events, people and changes studied from an appropriate range of sources of information, including pictures and photographs, artefacts, historic buildings and visits to museums galleries and sites. So, for example, a visit to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site could include a visit to the Derby Museum and Art Gallery to see the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby who painted such famous people as Sir Richard Arkwright, and visits to the historic mill buildings in Derby, Belper, Matlock Bath or Cromford to see where men, women and children worked in the past, or visits to the sites or industrial settlements at Darley Abbey, Milford and Cromford to see how men women and children lived in the past. At some of the mill sites the children would be able to handle artefacts, use old photographs and pictures, dress up as factory workers and work simple machinery.

Breadth of study

Pupils should be taught knowledge, skills and understanding through a local history study and one of three British history studies which could be Victorian Britain (1837 – 1901). Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site was the place where the industrial revolution and the factory system began due to the enterprise of Richard Arkwright and others. However this development took place from around 1721 when John Lombe built the Silk Mill which was the first water powered textile mill to be built in England, and 1771 and 1783 when Richard Arkwright built his water powered cotton spinning mills in Cromford and Matlock Bath, so this falls before the Victorian period. Nevertheless, the National Curriculum states that a study of Victorian Britain should include the impact of changes to work, such as the factory system and working life for men, women and children, education in factories and schools and the growth of industrial towns. Children are also asked to study the reasons for historical changes.

Therefore, a study of working patterns in Victorian times could reasonably begin at the beginning, and the beginning of the factory system is in the Derwent Valley.

Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site would also make an excellent local study for schools in the area as an example of how the local area changed as a result of a local event, the introduction of the factory system, or of a significant individual, Richard Arkwright.

Key Stage 3

Historical enquiry

Pupils should be taught:

To identify, select and use a range of appropriate sources of information including oral accounts, documents, printed sources, artefacts, pictures, photographs, museums, buildings and sites. So for example a visit to the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site could include a visit to the Derby Museum and Art Gallery to see the paintings of Joseph Wright of Derby who painted such famous people as Sir Richard Arkwright, and visits to the historic mill buildings in Derby, Belper, Matlock Bath or Cromford to experience the sites where men, women and children worked in the past and investigate the technological developments in the cotton industry, or visits to the sites or industrial settlements at Darley Abbey, Milford and Cromford to collect evidence as to how men women and children lived in the past. At some of the mill sites the young people would be able to handle artefacts, use old photographs and pictures, documents and printed sources, to see machines in operation and work simple machinery.

Breadth of study

Pupils should be taught the knowledge, skills and understanding through a study of Britain between 1750 –1900, for example they should be taught about industrialisation in the local area. Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site was the place where the factory system was invented, the industrialisation of the workplace began and some of the first industrial settlements were built.

Pupils should also be taught about the expansion of trade and colonisation. The cotton textile industry would make a good case study through which trade and colonisation could be taught. In the 1830’s half of British exports were of cotton goods. However cotton does not grow in Britain. Cotton was grown in India and in other countries in Asia, as well as in countries in Africa, and in America, as it is today. Trade in cotton could be said to be one of the reasons for the growth of Empire as Britain sought to control the supply of raw materials. Cotton was grown on plantations worked by slaves who were traded in African countries and taken to the American colonies. Cotton was a fundamental component of the slave trade. The working conditions for men, women and children in the cotton industry, whether in the cotton mills in Britain or on the cotton plantations in America were sometimes horrific. As this became unacceptable people such as William Wilberforce campaigned for changes in legislation that would improve the working lives of men, women and children. At the same time as legislation was brought in to improve the working conditions of children in Britain, the campaign to abolish slavery grew in strength. The industrialisation of the cotton textile industry began in the Derwent Valley.

A study of the cotton textile industry could be linked to a geographical study of an economically developing country, such as India, child labour conditions in the textile industry in India and the impact of the intensive methods of growing cotton on the environment.

Interesting sub-topics could be:

  • Industrial espionage, for example by John Lombe which led to the building of the silk mill in Derby, and also the fortress like nature of the early mill buildings to prevent anyone finding out what was going on inside. And later, by Samuel Slater who took cotton spinning secrets to America and was subsequently dubbed ‘father of the American Industrial Revolution’.
  • The design of mill buildings, to create maximum space for machinery, and also fire proofing techniques due to the combustability of cotton dust.
  • The provision of industrial communities for the workforce, including homes, schools, farms and churches.
  • The technology of the transmission of power from the turning force of the water wheel to the machinery
  • The development of the transport infrastructure, including turnpike roads, canals and railways linked to the ports on the west coast of England and from there to the Colonies.

Art and Design

Art and design stimulates creativity and imagination. It provides visual, tactile and sensory experiences and a unique way of understanding and responding to the world. Pupils use colour, form, texture, pattern and different materials and processes to communicate what they see, feel and think. Through art and design activities, they learn to make informed value judgements and aesthetic and practical decisions, becoming actively involved in shaping environments.

They explore ideas and meanings in the work of artists, craftspeople and designers. They learn about the diverse roles and functions of art, craft and design in contemporary life, and in different times and cultures. Understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the visual arts have the power to enrich our personal and public lives.

The study of art and design includes the development of knowledge, skills and understanding. Three units of work taken from the QCA Schemes of work for art and design give examples of how the Derwent Valley Mills could be used to enrich the art and design curriculum.

 

Key Stage 1 Y1 and Y2

UNIT 1B Investigating materials.

About the Unit

In this unit children investigate the qualities of natural and made materials. They learn the skills for weaving and gain sensory experience of materials and an understanding of colour and texture. They learn about how textiles are used in their own and others’ lives.

Young children can find out about the making of textiles by visiting several of the mills in the Derwent Valley. At the Silk Mill in Derby, and at the cotton mills in Belper and Cromford and Matlock Bath children can handle materials and see how raw materials were turned into fabric. They can see how pattern and colour were used in the making of fabrics. Please refer to the detailed section on each of these sites to find out what workshops are currently available.

 

Key Stage 2 Y3 and Y4

UNIT 3B Investigating pattern

About this unit

In this unit children investigate patterns in textiles from different times and cultures. They use these as a starting point for developing their own designs. They investigate stencilling and print making techniques and explore ways of combining and organising shapes, colours and patterns to make a decorative textile piece.

Children can find out about the making of textiles at several of the mills along the Derwent Valley. At the Silk Mill in Derby and at the cotton mills in Belper, Cromford and Matlock Bath children can find out about how pattern and colour were introduced to the textiles. Please refer to the detailed section for each of these sites to find out what workshops are available to schools.

 

Key Stage 2 Y5 and Y6

UNIT 6C A sense of place

About this unit

In this unit children explore the rural and/or urban landscape as a starting point for two dimensional work. They record their observations through drawing and photography. They use shape, form, space, colour texture and pattern to develop and communicate their ideas in a painting. They consider the ideas, methods and approaches of artists who have responded to landscapes in different ways.

The Derwent Valley is a very dramatic landscape which includes built features such as the enormous cotton mills and their chimneys, as well as the river scenery with its limestone cliffs and gorges, weirs and culverts and the canal and its features. This landscape could certainly give inspiration to the children who come to sketch, draw and photograph on a field work visit to the area. They would also be able to study the ideas, methods and approach of a local artist, Joseph Wright of Derby, who painted this landscape at the time the mills were being built. His work is on display at Derby City Museum and Art Gallery. Please refer to the section on the Derby City Museum and Art Gallery to discover what workshops are available to school groups. They could also link this study to the study of other artists, such as Lowry, who painted industrial landscapes.

Key Stage 2 Y3 and Y4

UNIT 3A Portraying relationships

About this unit

In this unit children investigate how paintings, prints, photographs, and other images that include figures communicate ideas about relationships. They use composition skills to make a double portrait that conveys ideas about themselves and their relationship with another person in their lives.

Children could make a study of Joseph Wright of Derby. He was born in 1734 and died in 1797. He lived and worked in Derby in the time of the Age of the Enlightenment when ideas about the nature of the world were changing dramatically. His work is on display in the Derby City Museum and Art Gallery. He painted portraits of the famous local men of the time such as Sir Richard Arkwright and Jedediah Strutt, both industrialists. An interesting study could be made comparing the portraits of the two industrialists and what the portraits say about their very different characters could be made. Please refer to the section about the Derby City Museum and Art Gallery to find out what workshops are available for schools.

Key Stage 3 Y3

UNIT 10GEN Visiting a museum, gallery or site.

This unit provides a structure for a visit to a museum, gallery or site. The visit would be most effectively used at the start or in the middle of a unit of work, so that work back at schoo