Year 4 trip to Rural Life Museum
On Friday 13th October, pupils in Year 4 had a fantastic day taking part in two inspirational workshops: ‘Saxon Somerset’ and ‘Myths and Legends’. The workshops linked perfectly to their History topic about the Anglo-Saxons and to their creative writing objectives!
The day started off with an excellent discussion about King Alfred and his victory over the Vikings, which included a very realistic reconstruction of the Battle of Edington! The children then built a Saxon settlement, or ‘burh’, and used a Viking trebuchet to see if their burh would have survived an attack. After all the battle excitement, creative skills were put to the test – the children investigated Saxon runes and created rune stones out of clay to spell out secret messages.
After a delicious picnic lunch, the ‘Myths and Legends’ workshop commenced. Sandy, the brilliant Education Officer at the Museum, took the group on a guided tour of the Museum.
Inspired by what they saw, the children were bursting with creative ideas to write their own myth or legend. They brought their story plans back to School (and were so inspired that they decided to write up their stories as an additional piece of prep!).
The day finished with another fantastic clay modelling session, where the children created a ‘hunky punk’ to go with their myth or legend. Hunky punks are grotesque figures used to decorate buildings (much like a gargoyle but without the water spout).
The day started off with an excellent discussion about King Alfred and his victory over the Vikings, which included a very realistic reconstruction of the Battle of Edington! The children then built a Saxon settlement, or ‘burh’, and used a Viking trebuchet to see if their burh would have survived an attack. After all the battle excitement, creative skills were put to the test – the children investigated Saxon runes and created rune stones out of clay to spell out secret messages.
After a delicious picnic lunch, the ‘Myths and Legends’ workshop commenced. Sandy, the brilliant Education Officer at the Museum, took the group on a guided tour of the Museum.
Inspired by what they saw, the children were bursting with creative ideas to write their own myth or legend. They brought their story plans back to School (and were so inspired that they decided to write up their stories as an additional piece of prep!).
The day finished with another fantastic clay modelling session, where the children created a ‘hunky punk’ to go with their myth or legend. Hunky punks are grotesque figures used to decorate buildings (much like a gargoyle but without the water spout).
