9th of Aug, http://www.medieval.com.au/
The Year 7 Medieval Day was once again a roaring success. On the 9th of August, the Holt Wing was overrun by excited Year 7 students for a fun filled day of hands-on medieval activities. Many students were beautifully dressed up and all were well behaved and eager to learn.
This was the second time I organised this wonderful event; a great and satisfying experience.
The year level rotated through six different topics, including: ‘Education & Games’, ‘Troubadours’, and ‘Weapons & Armour’. In ‘Fashion & Dress’, the students discovered the importance of dress code and the social status of colour, cut and cloth. The Games Hall became the staging ground for the ‘Tournament’ where the students found out how hard it is to hit a fully trained and impressively armed knight; surely this was a challenge not many 12 year olds have encountered before. I am happy to report that the knight was benign and gentle, so no students were hurt in the experience. Another lesson with a high horror content was ‘Crime & Punishment’, where students learnt about the many creative and effective forms of punishment employed during the Middle Ages. Let’s just hope that the teachers did not pick up any new ideas from that particular session.
The feedback from the students was overwhelmingly positive and I have no doubt that this day of experiential learning has supported the Year 7s in their study of the Middle Ages in Humanities.
Medieval Day is a yearly event at our school. This was the second time I organised the day which involved creating the running sheets, organising the presenters and making sure every one was in the right place at the right time. I was great seeing everything come together and I enjoyed seeing all the happy and excited smiles on the students’ faces at the end of the day. It proves once again that hands-on activities and games are the best way to ensure that students remember curriculum content.