For Junior and Secondary School Children
These characters are great for the Local History Civil War Studies of children of all ages, and for Key Stage 3 History.
I can portray one of several different characters from the Civil War period, including a musketeer, an officer and several castle governors. Each can talk about the war, as a countrywide phenomenon or as a more local, Yorkshire affair. Each can cover topics from the causes of the war to tactics and weapons, from the day-to-day life of a soldier to the actions and decisions of generals and politicians.
Story telling and question and answer go hand in hand with demonstrations and explanation. Much depends on the age of the children, and the nature of the studies they are doing. If they are studying a particular local castle, for example, then much of the focus will be on what happened at that paricular stronghold and its locality, as well as camp life and siege warfare.
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The HistoryAfter introducing myself, this session leads into the stories, descriptions and explanations that arise from the children and teacher's questions concerning the war. I try to make this a two-way, interactive experience, so that the children can take advantage of working with an experienced historian, roleplayer, interpreter and teacher rather than simply watching a presentation or video. This session can also involve demonstration of the weapons and other trappings I bring along with me, as well as perhaps reading from documents I have. |
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Option: Marching drillWeather and playground space permitting, this is a good, physical exercise which gives the children a feel for the kind of drill that soldiers practised (sometimes) every day, as well as a much better idea of what exactly was involved in a battle. It is a far cry from modern warfare! They will get to know their left from their right, as they wheel, turn, countermarch, etc. |
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Option: Description of a BattleAn involving way to give an account of a battle is to go outdoors and have the children represent bodies of men involved in the battle. They move about according to my instructions, allowing a visuospatial perspective on the descriptive story of the battle. Obviously I take care to instruct the children so that they don't get over excited with this exercise. |
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Option: Creating work for a displayThis can involve most of the children sketching me, my weapons and/or other possessions, while others interview me and take notes to write up as information for the display. Photographs could be taken too, or elements that arise from any particular topic you want me to focus on during the earlier sessions. |
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Option: A Wargame!This takes half a day, and can form the afternoon session when I do a full day with one class, so that I stay in role all morning and come out of role in the afternoon. It is always more effective to meet and work with the children as a character first, when they have never seen me be myself. This involving session involves a large map and miniature soldiers to learn about a battle at Wakefield in 1643, when Sir Thomas Fairfax and 1500 Parliamentarian soldiers faced George Lord Goring and 3000 Royalists. The children already have an idea about the types soldiers involved and their weapons (from the morning session), and now peruse the map with me to learn about the local terrain. Then the children divide into groups to work out and write down their detailed battle plans. I then show the children what might have happened if their plans were attempted! The session ends with me showing the children what actually happened in history, now that they properly understand the map and representative units. NB: The plans, if neat enough, might be incorporated into the display mentioned as an option above. |
