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Middle Department News 9 June 2023
Year 3
Verulamium Special Edition
The highlight of this week was undoubtedly our trip back in time to Verulamium via the Roman museum in St Albans. Year 3 were extremely excited by the prospect and did us proud – assuming the part of Beechwood ambassadors very well. We spent time in the galleries looking at the artefacts and looking for objects and learning about their lives. We also dressed up and went to a Roman market, where each group had a shopping list of items to buy and explain to the rest of the group. After leaving the museum, we were lucky enough to be taken to the Roman Theatre in Verulamium by Lady Grimston.
We ate our lunch on top of a mound overlooking the remains of Roman workshops and imagined ourselves back in the Roman market. We were also very lucky to be able to see the set of the first play of the season by the Ovo Theatre group. If you are interested, there are a wide variety of plays being put on, many suitable for children. I think they enjoyed seeing the stage and having a ‘sneak peak’ before the crowds arrive later in the week.
The final activity of our day was courtesy, once again, of Lady Grimston, who threw open a field and the children ran through the long grass – a very simple pleasure, but glorious to watch!
On our return we asked the children two questions: their favourite part of the day and their favourite fact that they had learnt and these were some of their answers:
Favourite Facts:
- You could not make any pudding with chocolate because they didn’t have sugar! Rudr
- That the beautiful Roman mosaics had heated floors powered by furnaces. Charlie M
- That the Romans put oil on their skin and scraped it off with a special tool (strigil). Annabel
- If you were rich a slave would scrape all the oil and dirt off and if you were poor you would do it yourself. Sophia C.
- The Romans gave babies necklaces that they wore until they were 14 with a dolphin on it. Amelie B
- The Roman did not use forks. Ethan
- That olive oil was used for so many things like lighting, keeping food good and to wash your body. Sophia U
Favourite Part of the Day:
- When we were looking at all the skeletons. I found it really interesting. Lucinda
- Seeing the bodies! Olly.
- When we did the market and dressed up as Roman citizens. Mya
- The Romans put a piece of tiny wood in their mouths so that when your hand hurts it stops you from screaming. Louisa
- Playing all the board games and building a Roman bridge. Oliver
- Having lunch on the Roman hill in Verulamium. Arthur
- Playing in the field because the grass was so long! Lela
- Going into the theatre and sitting in the front row! Owain
Take a look at some of our photos here
Dates for your diaries
The weeks are scudding past, so here are a few reminders:
- Thursday 15th June – Year 3 Swimming Gala
- Thursday 22nd June – Cricket vs Berkhamsted – their final match in Year 3
- Tuesday 27th June – Sports Day
- Saturday 1st July – Speech Day (early finish on Friday)
- Tuesday 4th July – Fun Night
Phew! Such a lot of wonderful activities to fit into the term.
Thank you, as always, for your support.
Kind regards,
The Year 3 Team
This year, in the absence of the annual Minimus Mythology Competition, and inspired by their study of the myth of Perseus and Medusa, Year 5 pupils have thrown themselves into our own Mythology Competition with gusto! Pupils were invited to submit competition entries in a range of genres, including artwork, drama, animations and diary entries.
To her friends, 12-year-old Cosima is Cos. To the Stains (the unpleasant brother and sister who manage the Home for Unfortunate Girls) she is simply ‘number one’ – she was the first child they took in as a baby. Over the years, she’s been joined there by many other ‘unfortunates’ – disabled children to be hidden away from Victorian society. Together with her friends, she spends her days practising mini heists involving the theft of cakes, biscuits and other sweet goodies. But when Cos finds out that Lord Francis Fitzroy, the explorer behind the Empire Exhibition, is planning to adopt them, she and her friends plot the biggest heist of their life. Instead of fondant fancies, they’re going to steal Fitzroy’s prized tiara, containing the legendary Star Diamond of India!