On Tuesday, 19 September, Year 3 and Year 4 were transported back in time after the Roman Invasion of 43AD. This was when the Romans had successfully occupied Britain for a number of decades. Everything that we had planned would allow both classes to discover first-hand what life might have been like all those years ago!
The class were very excited to enter the museum in St Albans, especially as they knew we were going to start our day out with a workshop! What we hadn’t told them was that we were going to dress up as both Romans and Britons to experience how Roman influence transformed the foods we ate (and still eat today), the domestic things we used and the kinds of clothing we wore during Roman rule. During this term’s Creative Curriculum topic: Invaders and Settlers, the pupils will explore life during the Iron Age, the impact of Roman rule and how Britain changed during the Anglo-Saxon and Viking Invasions – a period which lasted up to 1066. So, this was a perfect introduction to how Britain began to develop under a variety of different rulers.
As you can see all the pupils thoroughly enjoyed finding out about life during these times!
After the workshop, Year 4 went over to investigate a wonderful example of a preserved hypocaust complete with its mosaic floor. Roman hypocaust systems allowed hot air to circulate beneath the floor and through the walls of buildings. Floors were raised on brick columns (pilae). The mosaic covering the hypocaust was made of tesserae (small cubes) of cut stone or tile. These were set into a thin layer of fine mortar which was spread over a concrete floor. The tesserae were grouted with mortar and polished with abrasive stones. The floor may have also been polished with beeswax to enhance the colours. The classes were amazed at how beautiful the mosaic was along with the fact that even back all of those hundreds of years, the Romans heated their homes and buildings just as we do now (but without the furnace!).
The final part of our visit was to go into the museum and look at the many artefacts, mosaics, paintings and information that was on display. The pupils were amazed at just how intricate some of the objects were, especially the jewellery and tools. We all came away from the museum, filled with awe at how inventive and creative the Romans were and just how sophisticated some of their designs and ideas were, also.
Year 3 and 4 had a really amazing day and this is a collection of the classes’ memories of the day: “First, we went to a Roman Market and learnt that a tunic is just a long t-shirt. The Romans brought over wine, grapes, apples and olive oil, children were allowed to drink wine as the water had “wee and poo” in it! In the market, there were replicas of food, we learnt that the apples were more sour than sweet. There was also some pottery, metal, clothing and jewellery. We all really liked the paintings on the walls as they were beautiful and over 2000 years old.”
At the end of the day, I think we all agreed that it was a wonderful trip out!
