The first of these was an exceptional Tudor-themed workshop led by Peter Balanck, an expert on all things medieval. The children were able to try their hand at an amazing selction of hands-on authentic experiences, including trying on Tudor clothes and armour, writing with a quill pen, having their own coin minted, spinning wool and trying out a range of games played at the time.
"The soldiers of Queen Elizabeth's time must have had great strength and endurance to have worn this protective clothing all the time" - Ellis Drummond
"I would have made a brilliant court jester!" - Adam Murray
With all this new-found knowledge of the Elizabethan days, it was now time to travel 300 years into the future and find out about how Britain has changed since our current queen, Elizabeth II, has been on the throne. Cue another workshop that gave us a whirlwind tour of Britain from 1948 to the present day. We learned about the founding of the NHS, the rise of the Beatles, England's World Cup win of 1966, the manned missions to space of the late 60s and early 70s, the controversy caused by the Thatcher government and the explosion of 'girl power' and the Spice Girls in the 1990s. Of course, none of this would have been complete without a chance to dress up!
"I jumped at the chance to play the Queen. Elizabeth II is an inspiration to us all" - Emily Clayden
"If I had been a Beatle for real I would have been Ringo - drummers have all the fun!" - Olivia Wheal
As if all this wasn't enough excitement, we also spent some time in classes making physical timelines to improve our chronological awareness of the two monarchs' reigns and the huge span of history that separates them.
"I had no idea the country changed so much between Queen Elizabeth II's birth in 1926 and now!" - Oliwia Bartink
"We found out from making this timeline that Queen Elizabeth I's era was a time of great exploration and a flourishing of culture in England" - Eriya Byamugisha
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