Experiential learning for KS1 &/or KS2
The captain is an early 18th century pirate who tells exciting tales about Sea Rovers, Buccaneers and Privateers. The very sight and sound of him, armed to the teeth and swaggering about, fascinates children who often can’t believe that a ‘real’ pirate has come to visit! He can inspire motivated literacy work, built around a portrayal of historical piracy, using historical accounts rather than more modern, fictional stories and films.
The day can be formatted to work with one or more classes – a year group, a whole Key Stage, or even the entire school. When I work with more than one class we have assemblies to begin and end the day, with story-telling and demonstration sessions for groups in between. I ask the children to do literacy/artwork tasks, which they work on while I am storytelling with other groups. Burwash also works very well with one class for a full day, allowing me to do most of what is described below and sometimes more.
Session Format for Key Stages 1 and 2
What follows is an outline for a day with more than one class, but the whole thing works marvelously well with one class, and indeed there is more than enough to do and discuss to fill the whole day.
IntroductionWe start with an assembly (45 minutes approx.) for all the children in which I introduce myself and ask what they know of pirates. This leads to some stories, banter and demonstration. I then ask the children if they will do some work for me, for I am about to set off ‘cruising on the account‘ and need a crew, ship’s articles, a sea shanty to sing, a new jolly roger, tall tales of pirates to while away the hours at sea, etc. These tasks give the children work to do for the sessions they are not with me.  |
Literacy and Artwork TasksThe teachers decide which tasks they want their classes to work on while I am telling stories to the other classes. You could perhaps choose different tasks for each class to add to the variety in the plenary assembly. Or a class could do more than one task – there’s certainly plenty to keep an active group busy on literacy and art work. The first two tasks are the main ones usually done by Key Stage 1 classes, the others by older classes. A New Jolly Roger! Advertisement for a crew Ship’s Articles (Rules for Pirate Behaviour) Tales of Daring Do A Ballad |
Storytelling and Demonstration SessionsI meet each group individually – year groups or classes, depending on your numbers – and tell them short tales about famous pirates – Henry Morgan, Bartholomew Roberts, Blackbeard etc. I also answer all their questions, and talk about ships, weapons, navigation, diseases, capturing prizes and boarding prizes, etc. Most importantly, I show them the artifacts I have brought with me – like my cutlass, musket, pieces of eight, pistols, roundshot, grenadoes, boarding axe, etc. (There’s a lot to see.) If there is time in the sessions I can even have the children act out one of the pirate stories, perhaps about Henry Morgan’s attack on Maracaibo or Calico Jack’s escape from a Spanish pirate hunter.  (This picture is from the weekend the captain visited Skipton Castle.) |
Plenary AssemblyWe gather again at the end of the day so that the teachers can choose examples of good work to be shown or read out to everyone at end of day. Then I bid everyone farewell and take my leave!  |
Note: If you want to have a ‘pirate dressing up day’ you can do so on the day of my visit (many schools have done so and it works well) or you might choose to leave it for another day thus spreading the excitement of your pirate topic out a bit more.
And as I said, the day works wonderfully with one class, and can be classroom based entirely.
“What a fantastic day! All the children from Reception to Year 6 have been enthralled from beginning to end. A great way to start our theme week.”
“Wow! What a wonderful experience for our children. Their faces said it all. Your patter and knowledge was just at the correct level for our children. A huge thank you!”
“A fantastic, thrilling day. My years 4 and 5 class learnt so much through practical activities. The whole class were engaged by our pirate captain who stayed in role throughout giving the children such a valuable experience.”
“Thank you for an amazing day! You certainly brought our topic of the Great Fire of London to life. The children were totally captivated and keen to take part. We have thoroughly enjoyed an action packed day.”
“A fabulous day! All the children were enthralled and involved for the whole day. We have all learnt a great deal and the activities were great fun and I know this visit will lead to some excellent work in the following few weeks. A wonderful experience. Thank you again.”
“What a fantastic pirate day we had! Captain Burwash’s outfit, weapons and stories had us captured all day. His tales of sea battles and the gruesome deaths of his pirate friends really triggered the children’s imaginations. From the expressions on their faces I am sure it was an experience they will remember forever.”
“The children gained so much from your visit and lots of parents commented on the knowledge the children had about the Great Fire of London after you had visited.”
“He was really, really funny. He’s good at acting, knows a lot of information and I’d like him to come in again. I learnt lots from him.”
“Captain Burwash, you were awesome, so were your weapons.”
“We had a lovely time with you that was the best day ever. Hope we see you again.”
“Your final story was amazing, I couldn’t believe it! Literally. No man (plus horse) could go from Kent to York (over two hundred miles) in less than a day. Not even Nutmeg! I would like to say thank you again for a phenomenal day. I really enjoyed it! Hope you come again … “
“A fabulous visit once again. Paul has been coming to Airedale for six years now. We plan our journalistic writing topic to fit in with John Nevison! All the children enjoy the visits and produce excellent follow up work. It is a highlight of Year 6. Thank you Paul.”
“We have enjoyed an inspirational day. We will be able to go on and do some wonderful work.”
“Had an excellent day today. The children really enjoyed all the activities and their faces when you walked in to the assembly were excellent! Thanks for all the ideas, we’ll be using loads of them in Literacy.”
“The children were engaged as soon as he walked through the door and remained so well after he left. A great day which really helped the children’s historical understanding.”
“The children were absolutely enthralled! Everyone spent lunch hour and home time talking about ‘their’ story. We will be incorporating the work into Literacy, History and ICT. Thank you!”
“This was our third visit from the Captain and as always the children thoroughly enjoyed it (as well as the staff!) It really fit in well with our topic and the children could really relate to what was going on.”
“Sir William Petty. A fantastic morning which held our pupils’ attention. It really had the Wow factor! Many thanks.”
“Thank you for another super day learning about the Great Fire of London. The children have loved the day and have been involved in all the activities and asked a range of interesting questions – which I am sure will continue tomorrow!”
“We had a brilliant day. History came to life. The children were fascinated and wanted Sir William to stay for the week.”
“What a great day! It was Sir William Petty’s first visit to our school but hopefully not the last. The children thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it certainly brought the Great Fire of London to life. Thank you very much.”
“Wow! UKS2 had a brilliant day. From beginning to end the children were enthralled and produced some imaginative pieces of work. Thank you.”
“What a fantastic day. The children have been captivated by your stories – how do you remember it all? The children have been engaged all day and produced a wide variety of work. I am really looking forward to their stories – you have fired their imaginations.”
“A fabulous day for staff and children! It has provided a great stimuli for writing for children of all age groups.”
“A great inspiration for our work in class, and across the whole school. Burwash caught their imagination and certainly got them thinking. Many thanks for a great day.”
“A fantastically organised and stimulating day, turning the fictional into the very real.”
“I thought he totally captured the children’s imagination.”
“A fantastic day had by both children and teachers. The children were engaged with different relevant activities. The activities were easily managed and well led. The children were able to recall many events and were given an excellent insight into the past.”
Thank you for a wonderful day. The children learnt loads and had a wonderful time! They are all buzzing and have been re-enacting the story. Brilliant!!! Hope to see you again soon for another Historical adventure.
… the amazing day you spent at our school … Thought I must tell you that the children(and adults too) thoroughly enjoyed your visit. The children said that it had been the best day in year 5 this year! You were very entertaining and the children learnt SO much about highwaymen in the past. They are keen to finish what they started in class today – it’s great when they enjoy writing so much! We will definitely book you again in the future and recommend you to other classes and schools.
“Thank you for a fantastic Pirate themed day for our UKS2 children, which was a perfect link to our current topic. The children were all hooked from the moment they saw you and were instantly engaged. Some wonderful work has been produced as a result of the day.”
Just want to say a big thank you for a brilliant day, yet again. A lot of the children said how much they enjoyed it and that it’s the best topic they had done this year. A number of them asked me if I’d had chance to see your horse, Nutmeg!
Thank you for the wonderful day yesterday. Had some fantastic literacy following it today in all three classes!
Our topic ‘Land Ahoy’ was completed by an outstanding day delivered by Captain Burwash!! The day was fun and packed with inspirational activities. The children enjoyed creating a Jolly Rogers for Captain Burwash’s ship and writing an advert for a vacancy for ruthless crew! There were lots of opportunities to handle some of the artefacts. The children were in awe of the many stories told about Blackbeard and other pirates. It was an excellent day which left the children buzzing!!
Thank you for a brilliant day and really bringing our pirate topic alive! The children actually still believe that you are a real pirate!
I just wanted to send a huge thank you for a truly brilliant day, on behalf of us all. The children were so engaged and you had them all enthralled with your entertaining stories! They all left hoping you would come back tomorrow, and are so excited by the topic so thanks again. It was a pleasure to have you in class. Thanks again, I will definitely be recommending you to all my teacher friends!
Thank you cards from Year 1 children
