Children questioning a famous person

Pat Armstrong’s Year Two class in Otley, West Yorkshire, played detectives to find out about Thomas Chippendale. He is Otley’s very own famous person and the town contains several physical clues about him.

The teaching

Pat brought in a bag of clues about Thomas Chippendale to show the children:

photograph of Chippendales house in Otley town centre
chisel
specialist carving implement
pieces of mahogany and oak
brochure for Harewood House which contains his work
photo of road sign (Chippendale Rise)
some small chairs
picture of the Old Grammar School
list of occupations of people living in the area
town street directory
picture of doll’s house
pictures of Otley in the 18th century.

In role, Pat told the children that she was a famous person and that they had to ask her questions to find out who she was. She had brought in some clues about herself that they could look at and ask her about.

The children were keen to examine the artefacts and question Pat. They asked a good range of questions, including:

• Did you live a long time ago?
• How long ago?
• Were you born in Otley – did you live there?
• Was this your house? (pointing to the photo)
• Did you make things?
• Were you rich or poor? (Looking at the Harewood House brochure)
• What did you use this (old carving implement) for?
• Why?
• Was that your job?
• Were you a man or a woman?
• Did you go to school in Otley?
• What do (some of the occupations on the list) mean?

Through Pat’s answers to their questions, the children learnt a great deal about Chippendale’s life and work. Because of the excitement and interest generated by this activity, Pat asked the children if they could find and bring in information about Chippendale from home. Lots of snippets were brought in and discussed.

Follow-up activities

Follow-up activities involved a visitor, an outing and cross-curricular work.

The Chairman of the Chippendale Society came into school to speak to the children and show them different kinds of chair made by Chippendale, explaining what they were used for and who used them.

The class took a walk round Otley to look at plaques, Chippendale’s statue, his house, and inscriptions.

Design Technology: the children designed and made chairs.

Pat’s evaluation

‘The initial questioning activity sparked off the topic very well, firing up the children. It made them think and look carefully at artefacts and documents, which was a totally new experience for them.

It meant a lot to the children that it all related to their own town, and that we followed up the questions with practical work. They learnt all about Chippendale and his work, as well as developing historical enquiry skills and using historical terminology. Feedback from parents was very positive.’