Our Viking Adventure.

On Wednesday 26th April Partake Theatre Company visited Ash and Oak classes.

The day was taken up with exploring the life of Vikings and the choices they had throughout their lives.

We learned all about the clothes they wore and the weapons they used as part of their everyday life. We learned how to spin and weave sheep's wool, make metal bracelets, grind wheat and make coil pots. It was great to try all of these daily tasks that the Vikings would have done. It gave us a window in to their lives.

A fascinating challenge that we were given was to site a Viking settlement. We had to work as a democracy (just as the Vikings would have done) to site our homes, animals, hunting grounds and placement of our longboats, to avoid them being damaged or stolen by raiding parties. Mr Adby really challenged our thinking and tried to catch us out by using red herrings!

In the afternoon we re-enacted a Viking saga. We all dressed up and the hall became atmospheric, with the lights dimmed. As the saga unfolded there was a death and the dead  warrior was placed in the longboat, under a wolf skin, and set alight. The flames flickered in our darkened hall and everyone gasped in astonishment.

The whole day was an exciting way of learning, bringing the past to life. The two Mr Adby's did a fantastic job dramatizing the Viking world.

We would recommend them to other schools if they are interested in the past.