Two of our History teachers have been making quite an impression on students in Key Stage 3 with a range of exciting role-play lessons.

Students in Years 7-9 have been learning about Witchcraft, Witch Trials, Vikings and the Battle of Stamford Bridge with Mrs Paylor and Mr Ball, pictured here with Year 7 student, Isabel R and Preston B in Year 8.

Although these topics are all part of the History curriculum, the way that teachers choose to deliver them in the classroom is not specified, and our staff are always encouraged to be both creative and innovative.

With the help of hand made costumes and props to help set the scene, students were able to take part in a variety of learning experiences involving re-enactments of important events in history such as the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. This battle saw the invading Norwegians defeated by an army led by King Harold Goodwinson, however he was then defeated by the Normans at the better-known Battle of Hastings just three weeks later.

Students also learned about the persecution and slaughter of thousands of people branded as witches in the seventeenth century. There were over 90,000 gruesome witch trials and 80% of the victims were women, who were considered to be the weaker sex and therefore more susceptible to what King James I described as ‘demonic temptation’.