Today Year 4 had the pleasure of taking part in the 1066 KS2 COVID-19 recovery project.
Through wonderful history, drama and songs, the class spent the day learning all about the tumultuous year of 1066, and how times of fear can be overcome through teamwork and selflessness.
We began thinking about lessons from history that we could learn. There have been some incredibly difficult times in the past, such as the Roman invasion, the Bubonic Plague, the Great Fire of London and the World Wars.
During these times, people begin to panic from fear, which can make us act unkindly towards each other. We discussed how people began to panic during the beginning of the pandemic in 2019 by panic buying and acting more selfishly.
However, it was the people who worked together and acted selflessly, such as the NHS doctors and nurses, Sir Tom Moore and all of the key workers, who helped us to get through the pandemic.
The class then spent the morning looking at the landscape and important buildings in London such as Westminster Abbey and the Palace of Westminster which were built by the Anglo Saxons in 1066.
England was a very different place in 1066 when the King, Earls and Bishops controlled the country.
We later explored the story told on the Bayeux Tapestry of the Norman Conquest. Using the flags of the Anglo Saxon counties such as Wessex, Sussex, Middlesex and Essex we followed how Harold Godwinson rose to power.
1066 was a scary time for the Anglo Saxons as the rivals for the throne of England began to fight for the crown. William the Duke of Normandy decided to invade England and defeated Harold at the battle of Hastings. William was confident of his success as he had seen Halley’s Comet and was sure that ‘it is a wonderful sign from heaven’. King Harold however, saw the same comet and saw it as a bad omen.
The class spent time thinking about how we all have a choice whether to react positively or negatively to the events that happen to us.
We enjoyed learning all about this fascinating story using the puppets, brilliant costumes and props! The highlight of the day was a fierce recreation of the Battle of Hastings!
A huge thank you to Peter Daniels from the City of Westminster Archives and all of your colleagues for running such a wonderful session for Class 4 today! We really loved seeing the replica weapons and armour, and learnt a really special message about how to manage our fears and worries during difficult times.
Remember! When you’re in a crisis, stay calm! This helps us to use our brains more effectively so we can make good choices.
What was your favourite part of the project today?
My favourite part was when we pretended to battle against each other and getting to act out the different characters.
This was super good it was one of the best days in year 4
I loved the battle at the end and the acting with the puppets! I learnt a lot of things that I didn’t know about Anglo Saxons.
I really loved all of the acting but my favourite part was the fight at the end. I learnt that if you think positive things positive things will happen.
My favourite part was when we got to pretend that we were attacking in a battle. We were learning about 1066 it was so much fun! What I learnt was about Westminster and the battle between the Anglo Saxons and the Normans.
I really like the part where we were learning about 1066 and I liked the battle because it was fun.
I liked the battle so much that I laughed my head off 🤣