Breakfast

Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS)

Exploring where your breakfast comes from…

This is one of four units designed to be delivered at any, or all three of the stages of Primary school. Through exploration of the topic ‘Breakfast’, children at EYFS can develop ‘Building Blocks’ of knowledge and understanding in key areas that will help equip them to make sense of the challenging history of transatlantic slavery later in their schooling. Explore the unit’s ‘Learning Objectives’ to understand how this unit prepares children for approaching this history. The topic has been designed to also deliver key components of the EYFS curriculum.

Children are encouraged in this unit to explore how the commodities that they consume for breakfast come to be on their table each morning. They will find out about the origin of foods such as wheat, juice, chocolate, sugar, tea and coffee, as well as where the cotton for the table-cloth came from, and how ships and trade get them to their breakfast table.

The unit is structured around a learning cycle and offers teachers a topic that can be tailored according to the needs and interests of the class and teacher.

Stage 1: Testing

Class breakfast

A packed breakfast is brought in and eaten together as a class. Children are encouraged to bring whatever they would normally have at home (milk could be provided by the school and a cotton table cloth set down by the teacher). This could be done as a whole school, or class activity and recorded by a teacher / assistant to provide a further resource for the unit.

Teacher Approach

Adult led / supported – drawing out questions from the class such as:

  • Why do we eat breakfast?
  • What do we eat for breakfast?
  • Why is breakfast important?
  • What is a nutritionally good breakfast?

Big Question: Where does my breakfast come from?

The ‘big question’ is introduced and the adult explains the topic and that they will need to answer ‘the big question’.

Stage 2: Immersion

Big Question: Where does my breakfast come from?

Children identify the challenge and raise their own questions to investigate. Final challenge is introduced.

Pupil voice

Opportunity for learners to ask questions to direct the enquiry

  • Who makes my breakfast?
  • What do other people eat for breakfast?
  • Why do we eat these foods for breakfast?
  • How do they get to my house?
  • Which countries does the food come from?
  • How did it get to my country?
  • How are the foods grown or made?

Teacher Approach

Leading the class or dividing into groups to undertake suggested activities

  • Sequencing & role-playing how to make breakfast using image and word cards.
  • Class survey of who has what for breakfast.
  • Investigate which foods provide a healthy, nutritional and balanced breakfast.
  • Look at the origins of breakfast foods on a world map and discuss how they travel to us in ships, by air and by land.
  • ‘Home corner’ set up in the classroom of a supermarket with foods from around the world (to include Africa, North and South America & Caribbean).
  • Read stories about ships, travel, food and shopping.

Stage 3: Have a go

Big Question: Where does my breakfast come from?

Children use their learning to have a go – activities that allow them to make mistakes and develop skills.

Pupil voice

Opportunity for learners to ask questions to direct the enquiry

  • Who makes my breakfast?
  • What do other people eat for breakfast?
  • Why do we eat these foods for breakfast?
  • How do they get to my house?
  • Which countries does the food come from?
  • How did it get to my country?
  • How are the foods grown or made?

Teacher Approach

Leading the class or dividing into groups to undertake suggested activities.

  • Cooking with African / Caribbean foods from ‘home corner’ – to include measuring and weighing, learning about nutrition and where these foods come from.
  • Role-playing farming / transporting / buying the foods.
  • Exploring which foods make a healthy breakfast.
  • Finding out about Africa and the Caribbean today – in the context of how breakfast foods (eg chocolate and sugar) are produced there.
  • Visiting the supermarket (or bringing in packaging) to survey which foods come from Africa / Caribbean (this could also be done on-line if an off-site visit was not possible).
  • Writing shopping lists.
  • Visiting a farm to learn about locally produced foods.

Stage 4: The Challenge

Big Question: Where does my breakfast come from?

Children prove their learning by answering the ‘big question’- adult steps back, children are empowered and supported.

Suggested ‘challenges’ to answer the ‘big question’

Children present an assembly on where in the world their breakfast comes from and how it gets to them using role-play; music; costume; story; visuals (maps etc).

It should include something about foods that originate in Africa or the Caribbean.


Learning Objectives

Making sense of the history and legacies of transatlantic slavery in Britain today requires first some knowledge and understanding of some key areas.  These have been listed in the Building Blocks resource as ‘Learning Objectives’ under the headings

  1. Africa, the Caribbean and North and South America (the African diaspora)
  2. Trade Links
  3. Human Rights
  4. Identity

Developing a better knowledge of these areas at a young age will provide the ‘Building Blocks’ to prepare children to understand how and why Britain’s trade and economy came to be under-pinned by the ‘triangle of trade’ between Britain, Africa and the Caribbean.   A trade for which the capture, enslavement, transportation and sale of African men women and children as ‘commodities’ was a central component.  It is difficult to make sense of this traumatic history unless it is understood in the context of trade and economics and how they drove and continue to drive the balance of power in the world.

Beginning with simpler concepts at EYFS, then working through more sophisticated issues at Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, completion of this unit will allow children to better appreciate the nature of trade, supply, demand and economic inequalities in the world today – essential building blocks of knowledge and understanding to make sense of transatlantic slavery.  All children will learn this history at Key Stage 3.

Learning objectives identified for this unit

By completion of this unit at the end of KS2 stage children will:

  1. Africa, the Caribbean and North and South America (and the African ‘Diaspora’)

    1. Be able to identify African countries on a contemporary map and use their knowledge to describe some of the geographical features, traditions, culture and ways of life in these countries.
    2. Be able to identify some of the Caribbean islands and North and South American countries on a contemporary map and use their knowledge to describe some of the geographical features, traditions, culture and ways of life in these countries.
    3. Know why North and South America and the Caribbean has a strong link to Africa and be able to communicate their thoughts and feelings about this history.
    4. Know how and why Britain has historical connections to these countries that impacted directly on their development and Britain’s, and understand how these connections are reflected within Britain’s diverse society today.
  2. Trade Links

    Children should:

    1. Understand the system of trade and how it works and be able to give historical and contemporary examples of trade on a local and international scale.
    2. Know about the importance of trade to Britain and be able to give examples of goods that have been traded throughout history.
    3. Know about ships and the importance of the sea in the movement of goods around the world for trade, past and present.
    4. Be able to make judgements on the value of goods and what is fair and unfair relating to trade, give examples and communicate why they have made this conclusion.
    5. Be able to identify some of the commodities that they consume that are produced in Africa, the Caribbean and North and South America and use their knowledge to debate the fairness of the systems of trade for these.
    6. Be able to make links between the history of Britain, Africa, the Caribbean and North and South America to understand why inequalities exist between these countries in terms of trade.
  3. Identity

    1. Be able to identify some of the direct influences of African, Caribbean and North and South American culture, individual achievement and tradition on British contemporary life and use their knowledge to discuss this.
    2. Be able to make historical connections between Britain, Africa, the Caribbean and North and South America and use their knowledge to recognise how this history’s legacy has shaped attitudes and values in both negative and positive ways.