Year 8 delve into the past!

Over four days, all of Year 8 were able to visit the Mary Rose Museum in Portsmouth as part of their History studies.  Year 8 investigate the Tudors, so a visit to see the remains of Henry VIII’s flagship, especially when it is on our doorstep, is too good an opportunity to miss.  As well as seeing the ship itself, students were able to see some of the many artefacts lifted from the Solent as part of the recovery process.  They were fascinated, for example, by some of the gory surgical equipment, and the remains of the ship’s dog.  This gave them an insight into life onboard a Tudor warship, and therefore the life of some ordinary people, whom history has often tended to overlook.  They also found out about why the ship sank, and how it was raised (which myself and some of the older teachers were able to recall from the early 1980s!), which included a ‘4d’ film with associated glasses!

As well as a tour of the museum, students also undertook a workshop, including on the horrors of Tudor medicine (which also relates well to part of our current GCSE course).  The students were well behaved, and days like this emphasise that there are many different ways that we can learn about the past, including the history of our local area.

My thanks must go to the numerous staff who accompanied the visit, and hence made it possible, and to students for their level of interest and enthusiasm.

Justin Barnett, Head of Humanities