On Thursday 2nd February, the Year 5 classes were treated to a fully immersive experience - living life as an Anglo-Saxon!  Our hall was converted into an Anglo-Saxon village in which we learned the many skills used by our ancestors - from making beeswax candles, creating ink and writing on parchment, to archery and sword skills.

The day started early, with the children arriving in costumes, ready to experience life as an Anglo-Saxon. We were led by our Thane, Aelfled the Grey, who helped us learn to make ink, create rune bags in which to put our runes so that we can predict the future and learning how to use our swords, spears, bows and shields effectively to defeat the Danes, who wish to conquer our lands.

Aelfled was very knowledgable and taught us many historical facts about how the Anglo-Saxon language still influences our every day conversations and how the battles and agreements, between the Anglo-Saxons and Danes, shaped the United Kingdom as we know it today.

In the afternoon, Phil (our archaeologist) showed us how to excavate an historical dig and begin to understand the artefacts we found to piece together our understanding of Anglo-Saxon life.  We even found a burial site, along with a monastery, a family house and the mystical home of an ancient seer! We also learned about how money was developed and how to smelt and create metal artefacts using our clay pots created during our morning session.

We will continue to use our text - Shield Maiden - to develop our understanding of the life and times of the King of Wessex and his family before we create our own diary entries detailing the events first hand as Aethleflaed, the Lady of Wessex.