You should allow one and a half hours for each of these workshops which are held in one of our classroom bases.
Roman letter-writing
Mosaic tile making
Monastic Herb workshop
Tudor Herb workshop
Tudor Music workshop
Brass rubbing
Clay tile modelling
Illuminated lettering
Heraldry
Geology workshop
Stained Glass Window Making
Roman
letter-writing KS 2 History, NC Unit 9
KS2 Art and Design, Units 2 and 4
In role as Roman soldiers in Verulamium, the children work in very simple Latin on wax tablets with a stylus, writing a letter to their wives back home in Italy.
KS 2 History, NC Unit 9
KS 1 and 2 Art and Design, Units 2 and 4
KS 1 and 2 Maths, NC Unit Ma3
Having seen slides of the marvellous Verulamium mosaics, the children then make a mosaic tile of their own. They work on plywood with small pieces of tile and non-toxic grout. Tiles may be taken back to school after the session where they can be put together to form a Roman pavement.
(Available April to September)
KS 3 History, NC Unit 8
Children work at identifying plants in our herb garden and then discuss their medicinal properties by making infusions, ointments, pillow sachets, poultices and tea, as the monks did here in mediaeval times.
(Fresh herbs available April to September, otherwise dried herbs will
be used)
KS2 History, NC Unit 10
This workshop explores the use of herbs in the domestic Tudor household both rich and poor. Starting with an investigation into the names and properties of certain herbs, pupils then pick them from our gardens to make authentic Tudor remedies and household aids.
KS2 History, NC Unit 10
KS 2 Music, NC Units 2, 3 and 4
KS2 RE
These sessions engage pupils in the performance of authentic music and dances of the Tudor period. First of all, in role and costume as monks, the children learn and sing a short part of the Latin Mass. Then, finding themselves in post-Reformation days, they sing some of the same service, but now in English. Attention then shifts from sacred to secular and to the lives of both rich and poor in Tudor society. Wearing appropriate costume, dances and songs of the period – some composed by Henry himself – are enjoyed with the help of authentic instruments.
KS 2 + 3 History, NC Unit 4
KS 2 + 3 Art and Design, NC Units 2 + 4
Children spend time first in the Cathedral looking at the brasses there. They are encouraged to ‘read’ the brasses using them as historical sources to deduce all sorts of things. Then, children rub a replica brass, taking the finished product home with them.
KS3 History, NC Unit 8
KS1,2 + 3 Art and Design, NC Units 2 + 4;
KS1,2 + 3 RE
Having looked closely at the range of floor tiles in the Cathedral and at the mediaeval designs and symbols there and elsewhere in the building, children set to work to make a clay floor tile of their own and to decorate it in relief. Back at school, tiles can be painted and varnished or left as they are. The clay we use hardens naturally and does not need firing.
Illuminated
letteringKS 3 History, NC Unit 8
KS2 + 3 RE
KS2 Art and Design NC Units 2 + 4
In role and costume as monks in the mediaeval scriptorium, children discover how the beautiful illuminated manuscripts from the monastic house here at St Albans were produced. They ascertain with what and on what the monks wrote, how they made their dyes and how they gradually built up the illumination on the page. Then they set to work themselves…in silence!
KS 3 History, NC Unit 8
KS2 + 3 Art and Design Units 2 + 4
Our heraldry experts explore with the children how it was that heraldry came into being in the first place, take a closer look at a range of heraldic symbols, and look at the Cathedral’s own examples of heraldic shields. Then with books to hand and knowledgeable adults to ask, the children build up a shield of symbols which imparts information about themselves and their families.
KS 2 and 3 Science, NC Unit 3
A few slides help to explain the three main ways in which rocks come into being and to begin to convey something of the hugeness of the timespan with which we are dealing. Children then work in groups handling, observing, testing and identifying eight different rocks. After the classroom period we go into the Cathedral itself to hunt down the rocks in situ. A timeline down the length of the nave draws the threads of the session together.
Stained
Glass Window MakingKS1 + KS2 Art and Design, NC Units 2 and 4
During the first part of this session, the children work in St Albans Cathedral examining the many styles of stained glass, from mediaeval to contemporary. The investigation continues as the beautiful Rose window is examined in more detail, looking at use of colour, geometric pattern and symbolism. Then, using coloured acetate instead of glass, they design and make their own panel of stained glass for creating a magnificent display back at school.
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