Year 1 Conquer Tamworth Castle

Published: 19 Jan 2012   updated: 10 Feb 2012

On Tuesday 1^st November, 51 excited Year 1 girls and 9 staff set off for Tamworth Castle. This was our first visit to the castle, providing an introduction to our forthcoming History focus and part of our 'Homes' topic.

The girls attended 'Squire School', learning how to put on their armour, hold their sword and how to knock a knight off his horse! Later they helped Lucy to prepare the dinner table for the Lord and Lady and enjoyed meeting the Lady herself, greeting her with a curtsey.

Each class took a tour of the castle itself, noticing features such as arrow slits and battlements. We climbed to the top of the tower and looked down on the river, discussing how having the castle on a hill helped to keep the occupants safe from attack. The girls explored the dungeons (sometimes with an adult for reassurance!), tried out the stocks and thoroughly enjoyed dressing up in period costumes.

Of course, having a packed lunch and visiting a fantastic castle-themed play area were high on the girls' list of recollections of the day! Tamworth Castle is well worth a visit, though.

Over the next few weeks, Year 1 will continue to learn about castles and castle life. This will include cross-curricular DT work in constructing castles, in groups, alongside designing and making a castle clay tile.

Year 1 staff