Every year we treat our PP2 pupils to an interactive workshop all about the Great Fire of London. The event supports their learning of History and brings it to life.
Off The Page Ltd's Great Fire of London Day involves a combination of practical, investigative and workshop activities in a drama based format. Dressed in Tudor costumes and transported back to 1666, our PP2 pupils worked as bakers, candlemakers, barber surgeons, leather workers, chandlers, school pupils, perfumers, bakers, metal workers, seamstresses and weavers. By using drama and practical activities in each of the morning workshops, our pupils were able to find out more about the times.
The focus of the afternoon sessions was to answer the question 'How do we know about the past?'. Each of the groups carried out archaeological investigations using 'dig' boxes. The children each had a turn to dig for an artefact before discussing it with their group. They then began to see how much they could learn about the people living in the 17th century just from examining a few of their possessions, especially when they were able to uncover interesting information like someone's occupation or status.
The day finished with a story about the Great Fire, enacted using props such as a model house based on one from 1585 with the furniture and evidence. The children had a great time looking for rats (toy ones!) and putting out the fire using leather buckets which they passed down to one another in a line.
A huge thank you to the parents who gave up their whole day to help!