What a week!

Year 4 had a fairly relaxed start to the week with acting out the playscript for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The children picked their parts and split into groups.

In art, we looked at runes and the children had a go at writing their name and making some of their own runes.

On Wednesday, we began our adventure to Ufton Court. The excitement was palpable to say the least! When we arrived, we were welcomed by the Ufton Court staff. who did not hesitate to get us all stuck straight into some activities. The 2 classes took turns to go on some Viking raids from the long boats and learn some vital fighting skills with shield walls, axes and swords. The children were then shown to their rooms where they had to make their beds. We had some time to relax and explore before lunch and then it was into an afternoon filled with an exciting session all about crime and punishment or Viking games played out on the lawns. Dinner was served and the children quickly got into the routine of clearing up after themselves and resetting the tables for the next meal time. After dinner, the classes swapped for crime and punishment or Viking games. The children then had a little free time to play, shower or relax before everyone was sent off to bed. Obviously, it was very exciting to be sleeping in a dormitory with other children, but the excitedness soon gave way to tiredness and they all slept soundly.

Day 2 was another fun filled day. There were 3 sessions:

Torc making – the children learnt about Viking style jewellery and had a go at making their own by twisting coloured wire and beads. They made bracelets, necklaces, rings and even earrings! They kept these safe to wear to the feast.

Viking skills – in this session the children tried many different skills that would have been vital for survival. The used flint and steal to create sparks for a fire, scraped bark from wood, milked goats, spun thread from wool, built wattle walls and even tried to catch dinner by launching small stones from catapults at some pigeons (no pigeons were harmed, they were only plastic).

Grave goods – in this session, the children learnt about Viking funerals and the significance of the items that were buried with a body. The got to investigate a selection of items and try work out what they were and why they were important. A lot of the items belonged to a blacksmith, who seemed to be quite wealthy. For one group, there was a significant amount of value placed on fish that amused the staff.

There was a great deal of excitement for the feast that evening, everyone had a chance to dress up – even the adults – and head over to the mead hall. The adults were placed at a head table, just as the Yarls would have been. We followed quite a few traditions during the feast: we toasted by shouting ‘skoll!’, we ate with our fingers (because forks hadn’t been invented yet) and the children provided entertainment for the Yarls. The Yarls were told numerous jokes, shown skills, had poetry recited to them and there was a memorable dance performed down the centre of the hall. We finished the feast with a piece of the amazing cake.

On the final day, the children did a fantastic job of packing up their rooms and all stripped their beds. We moved down to the long house to gear up for the final battle. With Vikings on one side and Anglo-Saxons on the other, it was a series of fierce battles where the children learnt about the order of events and major battles that defined the Britain of the age. They learnt how the Vikings won several battles, Kings and leaders were lost on both sides which meant that new leaders rose in their place. In the final battle, Alfred the great of Wessex was victorious but later, a Viking by the name of Cnut (Kanoot) would become the first king of all England. History is complicated, but fun when you get to shout war cries!

After a spot of lunch and a final clear up, we loaded up the coach ready for the return journey. We had a bit of time for a kick about or to chill out with some Horrible Histories before the end of the day.

The children, and adults, had such an amazing time. It was a hands on experience and every single member of the year group gave their all to the activities. It was definitely a trip to remember! The year 4 team are very proud of how well everyone behaved and the level of enthusiasm that was given for this trip, which had made it such an incredible experience. We hope that the children have a good nights sleep and tell you all about it over the weekend. We will be putting some photos up on social media pages in the coming days, so do keep an eye open for them!

The Year 4 Team

Upcoming dates: 23rd June – Sports Day, 26th June – Non-uniform day, 27th June – Summer Fair