KS1 Topic Title: The Great Fire of London Block D: St Paul´s Cathedral
Session 2 The dome
National
History: Children learn about events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally.
Curriculum
Teaching
To find out about St Paul´s Cathedral.
Objectives
National
Art: To use drawing, painting and sculpture to develop and share their ideas, experiences and
imagination; To develop a wide range of art and design techniques in using colour, pattern, texture, line,
Curriculum
shape, form and space.
Teaching
Objectives
Resources
To examine art to develop ideas about St Paul´s Cathedral and use shape and form when making clay
models.
Weblinks
Dome images; Activity instructions;
Painting of Sir James Thornhill.
Whole class: You could choose to support this session by visiting a local church
Settle comfortably in your chairs, close your eyes and feel the weight of your own body. Put your feet flat on the floor and
your backs upright, hands can rest gently on your knees. Focus on your breathing- in and out. Imagine you are walking
through the great doors of the Cathedral. Silence. The only sound you can hear is echoing footsteps. The Cathedral is calm
and still. The enormous thick walls protect you from the sun, the air feels cool. As you walk further into the building, you
become more aware of yourself, your breathing and your thoughts. Slowly start to open your eyes. How did it feel to be
inside St Paul´s? Why do you think people visit the Cathedral? (To think about their lives, other people, religious reasons).
Can you remember what happened to St Paul´s during The Great Fire of London? It was destroyed. Have you ever been to a
Cathedral or church- how did it make you feel walking around? St Paul´s is a place of calm and peace. In the heart of the
cathedral, there is a magnificent dome. Show chn photographs of the dome (session resources). Encourage chn to think
about the shapes, lines, colours, patterns they can see. Are the shapes regular, symmetrical, decorative, colourful? Show
chn the images a, b and c that are inside or surrounding the dome (session resources). In talk partners, chn are to look at
the images and discuss what they think each image is about. Who are the people in these images? What are they doing?
How do you feel when you look at them? Share responses. Explain that behind some of these images there are meanings,
e.g. Image a - the angel can represent a messenger. Image b - the tree of life is a universal symbol found in many traditions
around the world. It is symbol for many things, wisdom, strength, protection and beauty. Image c - the serpent (snake) is
one of the oldest and most widespread symbols and can be a sign of evil or an enemy. Together with your talk partner, go
around the classroom and find an object that reminds you of one of the images you saw. Talk about the objects selected.
Encourage chn to describe how the different objects feel, e.g. bumpy or smooth. Do you think the image it represents
would feel the same? Talk about the similarities and differences.
Easy/Medium/HardGive out the dome images a, b and c. Ask each child to choose on aspect of that image to replicate in clay, e.g. an angel.
When chn have finished, they can think of a symbol their model can represent- it could be anything that is important to
them, e.g. peace, love (see session resources).
Teacher to support the middle ability group.
Ask chn to show and talk about their clay models. Chn can describe how they made it and what their model
Plenary
represents.
Outcomes Children will
 Find out about St Paul´s Cathedral
 Examine paintings and sculptures and use them to develop their ideas about St Paul´s Cathedral
 Use shape and form when making clay models
© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.
We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.