.... a group of children aged eight and nine were able to travel back in time to relive life in Tudor England and at the same time meet the fugitive Princess Elizabeth and give her wise counsel....
Back to Workshops............................Back to Sulgrave May Day
Greatworth “History Under the Skin” Week
The children arrive... in the snow
Year 3 and 4 children at Greatworth County Primary School near Banbury experienced a very close encounter with the past, they travelled back in time to become Greatworth’s junior citizens circa 1550!
Drawing on documents and other evidence from the period the pupils took on the roles of children in genuine village families of the day. They investigated their lives and learned dances, songs and games popular during the childhood of Queen Elizabeth 1st.
The centre-piece of the week was a visit to Sulgrave Manor on Wednesday 21st March to explore, through role play, the local legend that the young Princess Elizabeth was hidden in the house while on the run from Woodstock during her imprisonment by her sister Queen Mary
The mystery unfolds.
During the day the children were introduced to Laurence Washington, Lord of the Manor by his sister-in-law Mistress Pargiter of Greatworth. As they were shown around the Manor they found clues that a mysterious visitor was secreted in the house. Still in role they investigated the mystery, questioned Laurence Washington and eventually met his famous visitor who they entertained with music and dancing.
This project was developed by local freelance teacher of Dance and Drama Verna Wass, in conjunction with Sulgrave Manor. Documents from the Northamptonshire Record Office and the Mormon Computer in Salt Lake City provided evidence about Greatworth families in the 1550s, and their links with the Washingtons of Sulgrave. Guiding the children through the drama Verna was joined by staff and parents from Greatworth School in taking on the roles of adult residents of the village, and by staff from Sulgrave Manor who were members of the Washington household
A Tudor lunch break.
.
Verna said “ I believe that an informed understanding of History is a vital part of education because our sense of who and what we are depends on it; it is the raw material of which we shape our future.
Full understanding is best achieved through an active approach which enables learners to get under the skin of the activities, issues or events they are studying.”
