On Friday 21 April, Year 3 embarked on a trip to the educational and history centre, Ufton Court. The children were whisked back in time to the days of Tudor England, where punishments were harsh and religion was life.

The children started off by making their very own wooden bow and arrow out of sticks and string. This proved a challenging knot tying task for some, but it certainly kicked off an exciting day of hands on historic learning.

Once the arrows had flew and the targets had been hit, we went over to the main Tudor house of Ufton to prepare for our real Tudor banquet lunch. All the children, and teachers, were given traditional Tudor clothing to wear and were taught about the dining room rules of the period. The children were astonished to discover that burping and using your hands were encouraged. This however set the tone for the meal and gave much hilarity to the children as they toasted their wine (apple squash) with roasted swan legs (chicken). Unsurprisingly, Mr Bates provided the role of jester for the day by juggling food and encouraging the telling of jokes to take place.

Post eating, the children took part in their very own catholic/ protestant siege of the main house. They had the chance to ransack the building, steal jewels and symbolic artefacts from the proprietor, a scene which would have been common at the time. They even had a chance to hunt down a very naughty priest who was hiding in the depths of the house’s cavity in an original Priest Hold. This was a real hands-on experience, helping them understand the conflict and trials of Tudor religion and discover how hard life must have been for the everyday people.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip which allowed history to come to life in a memorable way.

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