What did the Anglo Saxons ever do for us ?

Spent part of today over the border into Suffolk at West Stow Anglo Saxon village in the company of 40 primary colleagues. I did a presentation on how we could relate the missions to Primary Humanities, particularly the idea of exploration, outdoor learning ('fieldplay') and connect with the chronology and sense of place that came from being in a place where people had lived for centuries...

A slightly edited version of my presentation is here:


We then had 45 minutes to explore the village, or walk down to the local river, which would have been important to the residents of the village. There were sticky cards to 'swatch West Stow', mints to go the mint-stint, paint swatches, compasses and various other bits.
Remember the West Stow recipe sheet too.
This can be used for other contexts...
Equipment: a warm coat and a sense of adventure

Thanks for the feedback and ideas - some good spectrums of colour, a nice googly eyed monster made from a loom weight, and some recipe ingredients
I liked the suggestion that the village was 'best served hot...' - we could certainly have done with a little heat...

Thanks to James Woolven for the invitation, and to the West Stow team for hosting.
A good lunch too with fine cup cakes.
Here's a few of the photos I took of the village - pop in if you're in the area.


Finally, thanks to Paula from Rougham Primary for sharing her haikus of West Stow - a simple verse form to encourage some 'stand and stare' time which I referred to in the talk - the importance of pausing.... Here's a few from the selection:

Stones that speak of time
Thatch listening for centuries
Voices, hearts and minds

or

Ancient scents linger
Ashes of time - shared cooking
Eating, laughing - Home

To find out more about the work of Primary Champions, join the Primary Geography NING, where you can meet up with hundreds of other Primary colleagues, and find and share ideas.

I'd also love to hear about how you use your copy of Mission:Explore Food in the classroom...
A really nice way to round off the first quarter of the year.
A new chapter starts on April the 1st - more to come then...

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