Roman Presentations and Workshops at Schools

I will attend your school in a Roman toga, bringing along vast quantity of resources, and present Ancient Roman sessions with experiences, sights and smells that the pupils will never forget!  Good value is offered with affordable pricing.

All ages are covered, from pre-school to sixth form college, key stages 1 - 4.  My aim is to bring that "wow factor" to studying history and my sessions are ideal either to kick off the start of the Romans topic or to consolidate a period of past study.  Everything that I bring can be handled for examination and activities are organized to keep the pupils engaged and entertained.

The weapons and military artefacts that I bring include lorica iron armour, leather roman armour, helmets with plumes made from horse's hair, a full size scutum (roman shield),  spears (both hasta and pillum), daggers encrusted with jewels and mounted in gold, and two types of Roman swords or gladius. The Ancient Celts would have fought with a slingshot and cudgel as well as a recurve bow and arrows - I bring these along as well.   The children are invited to hold all the weapons but under supervision to ensure complete safety in the classroom or school hall.

Of course roman and celtic weaponry forms a small part of all the historical resources that I bring to the workshops.  Everyday utensils used for cooking and eating can be examined as well as ancient jewellery, tools, personal items, coins, writing implements
and a good selection of costume for dressing up. Even some incense used to worship the many Roman gods can be smelt...it is made from an original recipe using dried berries, roots and aromatic gums.

Pupils are shown how wool was spun into long thread after teasing from a sheepskin - and they can try for themselves.  They are encouraged to produce artwork making a rubbing from ancient celtic zoomorphic carvings, and at the end a prize or two is given to the best attempts.  I bring along a selection of hand made toys which would have been used by Roman children. Did you know the Romans played with finger puppets?

Workshops normally cover the Roman invasion of Celtic Britain and its consequences. We examine the difference the invasions would have made to people's lives, both adverse in the beginning, but eventually leading to positive improvements as the roman occupation flourished.
Pupil are encouraged to discover why Roman society was so successful for many, but at the cost of the slaves under subjugation.
We look at the ancient celtic tribes and their leaders. Amongst the many costumes that can be tried on are a druids cloak made from many types of fur and heavy quality leather Roman armour complete with singulem.

Some of the resources that can handled by everyone are genuine antiquities from the period, normally seen only in a museum behind glass.  Others are hand made replicas or reproductions not normally available to the public.

My aim is for the visit to be great fun as well as instructive, and normally pupils are disappointed when the session is at an end!

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