This term our topic has been ‘We are Storytellers’. On the first week of term, we learned all about why the Romans left Britain in 410AD because their troops were needed in Rome. Next came the Picts who settled in the North of Scotland.  They wore tunics and had capes held together with gold and silver brooches. 

The Picts got their name Picti (painted people) as they painted themselves with blue dye made from Woad. At first, they settled in Orkney then they went to Fife. The Scots didn’t really come from Scotland but came across the sea from Ireland. 

The Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain because their land often got flooded and our land was better for farming. They built their villages near a water source so that they had fish to eat and water to drink as well as wash and water crops. They had a chief in the villages who would have the biggest house of all. In their houses they had a fire so they could cook, have heat and light. They got rid of the stone houses built by the Romans and built their houses out of wood with grass on the roof. They also built wooden fences around their villages for protection. 

The Anglo-Saxons used runes to write with and we used them to write messages for people to work out. They came from Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands and spoke their own language which we are still using parts of today. We learned about the 7 kingdoms that the Anglo-Saxons split England into: they were called Wessex, Essex, Northumbria, Kent, East Anglia, Sussex and Mercia. 

In Geography, we learned about 4 and 6 figure grid references and found places on a map using a key. We also labelled an 8-point compass. 

In Art, we designed and made an Anglo-Saxon brooch out of clay. We also drew illuminated letters in the Anglo-Saxon style. Our self-portraits were inspired by Rembrandt’s many portraits of himself. We also took part in a charcoal workshop where we drew birds using hatching, cross-hatching, stippling and ink wash techniques. These are displayed on mobiles in the Wizards Class. 

At the end of this term, we went to Oxford on a school trip where we learned lots of interesting information including that the ending of names had different meanings in Anglo-Saxon times. Eg. ford as in Oxford meant a river crossing. We went to the Ashmolean Museum where we saw the Alfred Jewel. On the end it looked like it had a snake head. It was gold with a picture inside. There were coins and we found out that each Anglo-Saxon kingdom had their own coins. This is different to today where the whole of England has the same coins with the head of King Charles III or Queen Elizabeth II. 

After the Ashmolean Museum, we went to Christchurch Cathedral and saw a huge stained-glass window telling the story of St. Frideswide (the patron saint of Oxford). We also saw her shrine. Some of it was the old stone and some had been repaired more recently. The old stone was much colder so we could tell the difference. We also saw the stairs from the first Harry Potter film! We then went to the Museum of Oxford and two people got to wear Anglo – Saxon clothes including a tube dress held together with brooches. We took part in four workshops including handling some artefacts and trying to work out what they were. We have had a very busy term!