Junior School visit from a Viking

The imaginations of our Year 4 girls have been captured by a two-week history project that started with a visit from a Viking!

Our Viking, who zoomed in from the world famous Jorvik Viking Centre in York, spoke about settlers and traders.

He explained that Viking helmets didn’t have horns and that not everyone in the Viking period was an aggressive raider. He, for example, was portraying a friendly settler from the 10th-century city of Jorvik and explained how he made his living, kept a home and what items he was able to trade with distant lands.

Following the talk, the girls each chose an artefact to research and create. They then became ‘the experts’ and were each able to present their findings to their peers.

Sophie for example, was particularly interested in jewellery which the Vikings made from gold, silver, bronze, animal bones and even fur. “They were very good artists,” she explained.

The longboats also intrigued the girls. “They had different shaped boats to help them do different things,” Chloe discovered. “Some were made with shallow hulls so they could sail right up onto the shore, and were powered by paddles or sails, and steered using a big rudder at the back of the ship.”

“The girls have really taken to this project” explained their class teacher, “and we are now the proud owners of our very own Viking museum full of the most interesting artefacts.”

To see the girls’ museum and hear how we bring history to life: