In History, the children have been learning about castles. They began by learning about the features of a castle and located some of the castles around the UK, including Alnwick Castle which they have been lucky enough to visit this week. The boys and girls were all very keen to see which of the features, they had learned about in class, they could spot as they explored the castle and its grounds. The were also intrigued by the prospect of meeting a Lord, a knight and an artisan. The children were lucky enough to participate in two workshops – Castle Life and Storming the Barbican.
In the Castle Life workshop, the boys and girls learned about the many jobs people would have had. After learning about these, they then became artisans themselves and made their own clay tile. During Storming the Barbican, the children had a tour of the castle and learned all about castle defences. They then split into two teams, the English army and the Scottish army. They re-enacted a battle with the Scottish army trying to conquer the castle and the English army defending it.
Back in the classroom, the children played a board game to see if they could capture the castle and then learned about how castles changed and developed over time.
