Roman around at Cerne Abbas school (From Dorset Echo)

Roman around at Cerne Abbas school

10:22am Monday 10th October 2011 in Class Action By Ruth Meech

THERE could have been a scarcity of bed linen in Cerne Abbas after pupils at the village school spent a week learning about the Romans.

Luckily, only a few seemed to have used sheets to make their stylish togas – the rest attended lessons attired in over-sized white T-shirts, Celtic garb and even dressed as a centurion.

Abbey class, with pupils aged seven and eight led by teacher Jan Crisford, spent a fascinating week learning about Roman weaponry, building onegars – military catapults capable of throwing boulders – and visiting Roman sites in Dorchester including Maiden Castle and the Roman town house.

They also visited the museum and made some mosaic rubbings.

Trendle, the younger class with pupils aged from five to seven, also joined in the fun and tried their hand at bead and pot making and Roman cookery.

They were all given Roman names and teacher Julia Bishop showed them Roman food we still use to this day, including bread, vinegar, leeks and courgettes, and helped the children grind pepper and make stuffed dates.

She was helped by Gill Copson, an outreach teacher from Thomas Hardy School who visits junior and middle schools in the Dorchester Area Schools Partnership (DASP) to help with humanities work.

Gill said: “The idea is to enhance the children’s learning by making it more 3D and hands-on and I get involved with everything from coming in to the class and taking the children on guided tours.

“It shows them that learning isn’t necessarily just about reading and writing, but can also be a lot more about bringing the subjects to life.”