Each of the following trails and workshops has been devised to tie in with National Curriculum (NC) syllabuses and linked to non-statutory guidelines offered by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA). Many of our trails and workshops are adaptable across the key stages and we are also happy to devise to order. Please ask if you would like something you don’t see.
You need to allow a full one and a half hours for each session booked.
Maths Trail
Alban and the Romans Trail
Invaders and Settlers Trail
Victorian Classroom Experience
Victorian Architects:restoring the Abbey in
the 19th century
Before and After the Dissolution
Monastery Trail
Black Death Role Play
Peasants Revolt Role Play
Mediaeval Craftsmen Trail
The Pilgrim Trail
Looking
at the Cathedral as a place of worship
Signs and Symbols
Citizenship
Trails for Foundation Stage and KS1
Trails for GCSE, AS and A2 level students
Trails and workshops for children and adults with special
educational needs
In-service training for teachers
KS 1 + 2 Maths, NC Unit Ma3
KS 1 + 2 Art and Design, NC Unit 4
In a building like St Albans Cathedral there is endless scope for estimating, comparing, measuring. Using everything from trundle wheels to helium balloons, from electronic laser devices to hands and arms of the human body, the children let few bits of the building escape. And then there is the world of shape and pattern to attend to…
Alban
and the Romans Trail KS 2 History, NC Unit 9
KS2 English, Unit En1
Through drama, the story of Alban, saint and martyr, is told. Then, children move around the building looking for all things Alban. The story unfolds further through statues, stained glass, paintings and of course the shrine of the saint itself. Then there are recycled Roman bricks (with which the Norman abbey was built) to touch. Perhaps under our hands, placed flat on the plastered pillars, are bricks from Alban’s villa, or from the temples where he worshipped the Roman gods before he became a Christian, or the Magistrate’s court where he was tried and sentenced to death...
KS 2 History, NC Unit 9
KS2 English, Unit En1
This trail starts with a condensed version of the Alban trail but moves on from the Romans to look at other invasions and resulting settlers. Saxon times come under scrutiny through Offa and the housing of Alban’s bones in the first monastery on this site, and the final part of the trail is taken up with the Normans. Paul de Caen is roled, his vision of a new abbey church explained and we are back full circle to Alban when we examine the mighty Norman pillars built of recycled Roman brick.
Victorian
Classroom ExperienceKS 2 History, NC Unit 11
KS2 English, Unit En1
This begins in the Lady Chapel which, until mid-Victorian times, housed a
school. Children work first with early photographs, observing their surroundings
closely in order to compare the two. They then move into the Education Centre
classroom for the second part of the session.
Perhaps it is a year in which the Empire is celebrating one of Queen Victoria’s
jubilees… Sitting at desks in serried ranks, the children copy a paragraph
of writing from the blackboard onto their slates in beautiful copperplate; tables
are chanted; sums are done with Victorian currency; and throughout, awed by
stern figures at the front, they are seen and not heard.
KS2 History NC Units 2 + 4 + 11
KS2 Art and Design NC Unit 4
Equipped with a set each of nineteenth century photographs taken when the building was in a terrible state of repair, the children first work out where each was taken and then compare the Cathedral as it is today. As the reasons behind the changes are explored, the beliefs and personalities of two very different Victorian architects are revealed…
KS 2 History, NC Unit 10
KS2 English, Unit En1
This trail starts with children being put into role as monks in St Albans Abbey in the first half of the sixteenth century. With the help of costume, badges, music and the building itself, the children can begin to understand the life of the cloister and the experience of those who had lived there for all their adult life. But the year is 1537 and change is in the air. Disturbing rumours from other religious houses in England fill the monks with fear and despondency. The group moves round the Abbey looking at the treasury, the nave altar, the wall paintings, statues, glass, brasses, the shrine itself – indeed all those things it knows to be particularly vulnerable.
There is a change of Abbot. Tension rises. The monks are called to an extraordinary chapter meeting and discuss how best to respond to the almost inevitable dissolution of their monastery. A peaceful response is decided upon – the monks remove their scapulars and receive their pensions. The building itself however is treated with violence and experiences dramatic change. It becomes very clear that Henry’s longing for a son, his desperate need for money and his interest in the religious reformers of his day have together wreaked havoc on St Albans Abbey and the town around it.
Monastery
trailKS 3 History, NC Unit 8
Wearing
a scapular and given a particular monastic office and something to carry as
a symbol of that office, each child becomes a monk in the Benedictine house
here at St Albans. The herbarian, novice and novice master, sacristan and cellarer,
precentor, illuminator, kitchener and almoner and many other monks then move
in procession around the Abbey, looking at things of interest and significance
to them in their particular roles. The Abbot in ceremonial garb brings up the
rear. Who knows what else may happen – a chapter meeting? The novice taking
his final vows? The arrival of a special guest?
KS 3 History, NC Unit 8
Preparatory classroom work is useful for this experience. A set of role cards and useful background information will be sent to the school in advance, to enable each child to respond spontaneously in their given role once they are here.
The year is 1349. The plague raging throughout Europe is in the process of killing three quarters of the monks at St Albans Abbey and many of the townsfolk. No one is safe. The Abbot himself, Michael de Mentmore, has perished and now a newly elected abbot, Thomas de la Mare, has just returned to St Albans, having had his abbacy confirmed by the Pope in Avignon. Monks and townsmen clamour round the door to greet him and air their grievances. He describes the terrible sights he has seen on his journey, his monks paint a picture of disease, death and despair. An extraordinary chapter meeting is called and debate flows fast and furiously about all manner of plague related issues. Suddenly someone collapses. The monks take him to the shrine of St Alban where he dies…
KS 3 History, Unit 8
Preparatory classroom work is useful for this experience. A set of role cards and useful background information will be sent to the school in advance, to enable each child to respond spontaneously in their given role once they are here.
The year is 1381. Things are very tense and unstable. The peasants are rising and are a force to be reckoned with. Several St Albans townsmen emerge as leaders, jump onto the bandwagon of the uprising in Barnet and march on the Abbey. The Abbot and monks quake at the top of the nave. Outside, the warren fences are broken down, Abbey houses in the town are looted and burnt and the prison is besieged. The outcome is not simple: it involves the dramatic writing of a new charter for the people and its sealing by the Abbot, the arrival of young King Richard II and his Commissioner, the rescinding of the charter, the formation of a jury, and in the end the dead bodies of the rebels hanging from the Abbey gatehouse.
KS3 History, Unit 8
KS3 Art and Design, Unit 4
Under William I, Paul de Caen has become the new Abbot at St Albans and a
new Abbey must replace the old Saxon one. In role first as Norman craftsmen
the children work out how and with what to build and then, once the new building
is up, find themselves in a timewarp. They become their great grandsons, retaining
the same name and role. By now Suger has invented the pointed arch and Totternhoe
clunch is being quarried…the now Early English craftsmen add to the Norman
building in stone. Caught up in the timewarp again, the same craftsmen, now
in the Decorated period, ooh and aah at the sophisticated skill of their carving,
but even this is surpassed when the timewarp strikes for the final time, and
the children find that they are now craftsmen in the Perpendicular period, gazing
openmouthed at their fan vaulting and rich, painted
ceilings.
The
Pilgrim trail KS 3 History, Unit 8
KS 3 RE
Children are put into role as mediaeval pilgrims newly arrived in St Albans after a long journey from Canterbury, Bedford, Edinburgh or…?
They work out how they will have travelled, how they will feel on arrival, and why they might have come. They become Mistress Rosemary, Master Adam, Master David, Mistress Tracey etc etc and they carry gifts. There might be a sheep farmer with a fleece fresh from his flock, or a spice merchant with coriander and cinnamon or a noble guest indeed with chains of solid gold. Slowly but surely the pilgrim band make the last leg of the pilgrimage through the Abbey. They stop to look at things on the way, join in a service, hear the monks’ plainsong wafting out from the crossing, and thread their way through the pilgrim throngs till they reach the resting place of St Alban. Gifts are given, candles lit, the pilgrims linger a little to absorb some of the rich beauties of the shrine and then begin their long journey home.
Looking
at the Cathedral as a place of worship KS 1-3 RE
KS1-3 Art and Design, NC Unit 4
Together we look at the key pieces of furniture in the building and use them as springboards for exploring the way Christians worship. What are these pieces of furniture? Why are they there? How are they used? Why that shape? What do they, and all that happens at them, mean to Christians? Through the font, lectern and pulpit, altar and shrine, through water, bread, candles and story, questions about Christian baptism, about the Bible and the Eucharist, about prayer and pilgrimage are raised and considered. How rich an experience it is for all concerned when the group represents a range of religious backgrounds!
KS 1-3 RE
KS1-3 Art and Design, NC Unit 4
The Cathedral is alive with symbolism! Floor tiles, windows, statues, wall paintings, brasses, votive candles, pieces of furniture, the shape and size of the building itself all come under the children’s scrutiny. And what do the symbols that emerge actually mean? The trail is an exercise in detection twice over – first tracking the symbols down and then, most importantly, deducing the messages given out. The trail helps children to appreciate the significance of symbolism in human living and especially the richness of religious symbolism.
Through the content of many of our trails and workshops and more particularly through the way in which we try to deliver them, many aspects of the guidelines for Citizenship can be supported. Several of our trails encourage children to identify and respect the differences and similarities between people, for instance, and to think about, express and explain views that are not their own. All the key Citizenship skills of investigation, interpretation, reflection, empathy, evaluation, expression, co-operation, communication, listening, negotiation, decision-making and participation are fostered whatever trail or workshop you choose.
Can Buildings Speak?
KS1
Art and Design
QCA Unit 2C
The Cathedral is alive with shapes, patterns and textures. The pupils explore these throughout the building recording their observations through sketches and rubbings, using a variety of drawing materials. These ideas are then used as the stimulus for either a press print or clay tile workshop. These workshops enable the pupils to draw on their first hand observations and to interpret the shapes and patterns they have found around the building.
The designs the children produce could be used as the basis for a longer project back at school including discussions about how this particular building ‘speaks’ to its visitors. Please specify whether you would like to do a printing or clay workshop when you telephone to make your booking and complete the booking form.
‘Can Buildings Speak?’ works very well when combined with a ‘Signs and Symbols’ trail (page 11 of the Guide for Teachers). This involves the children becoming detectives, tracking down Christian Symbols around the building and considering their significance and meaning.
Five Senses
FS and KS1
Knowledge and Understanding of the World, Personal and Social Development;
Science, RE
The children investigate the Cathedral using all their senses. Sight, touch, hearing, smell and taste are all used to explore the building and its use as a Christian place of worship. The children are encouraged to use simple scientific vocabulary and to identify which of their senses are most appropriate for the objects they are investigating. Searching for symbols, smelling herbs and flowers, listening for music and bells, making rubbings of surfaces and tasting Easter Eggs are just a few examples of how we help the children to make sense of the place they have come to visit.
Shape and Pattern
FS
Mathematical Development, Creative Development
Join the hunt for shapes and patterns around the Cathedral. This building is full of interesting shapes and patterns waiting to be discovered by our visitors. We will begin by uncovering the shape of the Cathedral and then creating the same shape with our own bodies. Then we will become shape and pattern detectives locating and naming familiar shapes around the building, discovering and making repeating patterns and recording some of them by making rubbings to take back home as a reminder of the day.
Materials
KS1
Science
Children explore the Cathedral using their sense of touch, investigating the materials used in and around the building. Handling and locating the Roman brick, flint and limestone used to build the Cathedral are important elements along with considering the use of wood and glass throughout the building. The children will identify properties of all of these materials e.g. rough, smooth, hard, shiny, transparent and think about why certain materials would have been chosen for different jobs. For example was it because they were strong, transparent, easy to find or a regular shape? As part of the trail each child is given a badge to wear with a piece of key vocabulary or a question on and as we work our way around the building we encourage them to use these words to describe the materials and to answer questions about them. This is an excellent opportunity to experience and handle a variety of materials and to consider them in a real and practical context.
Colour and Light
FS
Creative Development, Knowledge and Understanding of the World, Personal and
Social Development
Colour and light surround us in the Cathedral from the beautiful stained glass windows and tapestries to the numerous candles burning around the building. Using their senses of sight and touch the children will explore the building discovering the many colours and thinking about why they are used and also how they make them feel. Does it make the building look more beautiful? Do the colours make them happy or sad? Do they think the people who made the tapestries and windows chose the colours they did for a special reason? The children will be encouraged to think about what kind of building they have come to and will investigate some of the furniture and clothing that are used as part of worship here looking carefully at the colours in them and the effect that light has upon them.
We are also able to offer tailor made trails to tie in with specific topic areas such as Weddings and Baptism. Please telephone with further enquiries and refer to the trail and workshop pages for other suitable activities for Key Stage One children.
The Cathedral holds within it all sorts of possibilities for GCSE coursework across a variety of curriculum areas. Many schools take advantage of the scope it offers for studies in local history, for example, or for deepening an understanding of the ways in which Christians worship or of Christian Festivals or Rites of Passage. We are very happy to devise a trail to support a piece of coursework you may already have in mind. Please ask!
Let us know if you would like us to support your A level History or RE students by running a session for them in the Cathedral. There are possibilities in English too. This most important focus of mediaeval Christian pilgrimage provides a good starting point for a study of Chaucer, and our Victorian connections offer a natural way in to Dickens.
Our multi-sensory approach is particularly suitable for people of all ages who have special educational needs and several members of the teaching team have particular expertise in this area. We offer for people who are blind or partially sighted, for instance, an experience of the cathedral through touch, hearing, smell and taste. Or, for those with hearing impairment, we can offer a sign-supported trail or workshop. The Cathedral is very accessible to those in wheelchairs and has disabled toilet facilities.
Centre staff are happy to work with groups of teachers on a range of issues. We can, for example, share with you some of the enormous scope for using church buildings as educational resources, or look at ways in which a visit can nourish the spiritual and cultural development of children, or show how many aspects of the programme for Citizenship can be addressed during a session here. Day courses or twilight sessions are regularly organised or can be arranged to order. Please ask!
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