Our Big Idea:

Why oh, why did the Anglo Saxons leave their home countries? What did England look like when they arrived? Who was here before them and who came next? ​

As Historians we will explore a range of sources to discover the legacy that the Anglo Saxons left behind. From the Romans leaving to the arrival of Christianity to the Battle of Hastings in 1066, we will learn how when one great civilisation ends, another civilisation will replace it and bring with them changes to custom, culture and society. ​

As diligent designers we will use fabric to design, create and evaluate Anglo Saxon coin purses mastering the running stitch, decorating with cross-stitch and make a working drawstring.

Canterbury Cathedral Trip

As part of our Anglo-Saxon topic, we went on a trip to Canterbury Cathedral to learn more about the Anglo-Saxons and how Christianity was brought to England.

We were very excited to go on the train and had lots of fun on our journey.

When we got there, we had the chance to walk through Canterbury Town centre and saw lots of amazing Christmas decorations.

At the Cathedral, we took part in lots of exciting activities. We learnt about Viking runes and had a go at writing our names in Old English, we created our own Canterbury cross, made our own stained glass window, had a go at using replica materials from the Anglo-Saxon times and attempted to rebuild the cathedral.

We also had the chance to dress up as Anglo-Saxon people and went on a tour of the cathedral, where we learnt more about the kings and how the Vikings invaded Britain. We were able to find where Alphege was buried within the Cathedral.

As a final treat, we went on the carousel at their Christmas market.

“My favourite part was trying to make a hole in the brick.”

“I enjoyed the carousel.”

“I loved dressing up as a monk.”

“It was fun being an archbishop.”

“I found the train fun, it was my first time on a train!”

Topic

As part of our creative curriculum, we have been historians to learn all about the Anglo-Saxons. We learnt about place names and found different place names ending with suffix from the Anglo-Saxon period.

Some of the ones we have learnt about are:

-ham means the place was a village, -ford means there was a river crossing, -ing means the place is named after the leader, -wich means there is a farm or market, -port means there is a port or harbour and -stow means there is a holy place.

We then had the chance to pretend we were the chieftain of a kingdom and created our own place to live with our tribe. We came up with a name and then designed the place to ensure it matched the suffix of our place name.

Music

In music, we have been learning how to play the glockenspiel by reading music to help us play the tunes of hot cross bun and I hear thunder. We got the opportunity to perform to others to ensure we are playing the correct melody in the right rhythm.

English

In English, we have been thinking about writing a personal recount in the form of a diary. We have used our knowledge of Anglo-Saxons to imagine we are one of the British people who have been invaded by Hengest and Horsa.

To get us into character we used hot seating and imagined we had just witnessed the invaders coming over. We discussed how we would feel and what we would see. This has allowed us to write some great diary entries.

Learning lift-off:

For our learning lift-off, we learnt about the Anglo-Saxon values and how these linked to our school values. We then chose one of these values to represent on our own shields. We designed the shields, then wrote a speech to explain why this value is important to use before creating our own Anglo-Saxon shield ready for battle.