About the scheme of work
Thomas Clarkson (1760-1846) and Olaudah Equiano (1745-1797) were prominent partners in the late eighteenth century campaign to abolish the Transatlantic Slave Trade within the British colonies. This campaign, together with factors such as slave resistance, culminated in the parliamentary act of 1807 that banned the trade. Both characters campaigned locally (in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk) as well as nationally. Clarkson, an undergraduate of St John’s College, Cambridge, toured the country in pursuit of damning evidence against the trade. His friend Equiano, who married in Soham, Cambridgeshire, also toured widely, promoting his unique memoirs The Interesting Narrative (1789), recalling his personal experience of the slave trade from an African perspective. These three Schemes of Work for 7-11 year olds, when combined, celebrate the pair’s successful partnership during Britain’s first human rights campaign.
Each Scheme sets up an intriguing historical enquiry, explored through tried and tested learning activities that knit together towards a common creative outcome, supported by rich and varied source material. For each Scheme of Work, there is a series of sub-enquiries, with integrated teacher’s notes and activities linked to additional resources. Each combines History and Literacy learning objectives, linked specifically to phases of Non Fiction Unit 1 of the renewed Primary Framework for Literacy. The planning encourages speaking, listening and higher order thinking as preparation for written work. The Schemes can be taught separately, although Scheme of Work 2 – What was the Transatlantic Triangular Slave Trade? – provides essential background material.
