24 Jun Year 5 Anglo Saxon Workshop
Having completed a unit on the Anglo Saxons in History, Year 5 were fortunate enough to have a visit from Æthelin, an Anglo-Saxon farmer who travelled all the way from ‘Northumbria’! Æthelin took the children on a time-warped journey where they were involved in building their own homes. The children made structures out of ‘wood’ and then used a lattice effect to strengthen their ‘homes’. As you can see in some of the pictures, the children had to ensure that their roof was stable enough to withstand the wind and rain. They used ‘animal faeces’ as cement to ensure they had insulated walls. Once they made their hut, they started to learn about what life was like inside of them. The children freeze framed some of their ideas: cooking; being smiths; making weapons; weaving clothes; carving wool; making cloth; wood workers carving plates and spoons or creating farming tools. Then, the children went out to work. They started to harvest, and pick up the grains they harvested as well as make bread. The children then had the role of providing the king with bread, chickens that had their neck’s rung, sheep, a wheel of cheese, dead slippery eels and honey. To finish the workshop, the children acted out the legend of Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon tale, which they thoroughly enjoyed as well as sharing the themes in which they came up with: revenge, courage, death and bravery. The visitor was very impressed with their knowledge and behaviour throughout the workshop.