Our question for this term is: “How did we learn to fly?” We will be exploring this through the Catholic Social Teaching lens of Dignity of the Human Person, Solidarity, and the Common Good across the curriculum.

In History, we will be historians, investigating the topic “How did humans learn to fly?” We will build on our prior learning to deepen our history skills, including: understanding significant historical events, people and inventions; using words and phrases related to the passing of time; developing a wide vocabulary of historical terms; asking and answering questions; using stories and sources to find out about the past; and recognising that history can be represented in different ways.

We will explore the journey of flight from early ideas and attempts to fly, through to the first successful aeroplanes and modern air travel. Children will learn about key inventors and pioneers, such as the Wright brothers, and consider how curiosity, perseverance, and collaboration helped humans achieve what once seemed impossible. We will discuss how flight has connected people around the world, supported communities, and contributed to the common good by enabling travel, trade, rescue, and communication.

Through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching, we will reflect on how the development of flight shows respect for the dignity of the human person by valuing human creativity and innovation, and how solidarity is demonstrated through people working together across time and countries to improve life for all.

At the end of the unit, children will bring their learning together to explain how and why humans learned to fly, and how these developments have changed the world we live in today, thinking carefully about how the past continues to shape the present.

Throughout our study, children will be encouraged to share their own ideas, ask thoughtful questions, and make connections to their own lives—developing curious minds and embedding their ‘golden nuggets’ of knowledge in their long-term memories.