Case study: From learners to legionaries

Farsley Springbank Primary School has always strived to make its history curriculum as engaging and inspiring as possible, aiming to inspire historical curiosity in a new generation through its enrichment opportunities as well as its in-class activities. Murton Park has helped our school to do this in many ways since we started taking part in their Roman Britain and Viking experience days.

Upon approaching Murton Park on a recent school trip, the children were met straight away by a camp prefect from the Roman army. Marcus, our prefect, explained to the children about the invasion of Britain by the Romans and his role here at the fort, before informing them of their task for the day – to be inducted into the Roman army!

From here, the children marched in formation to their base for the day, the Roman fort, where they were met by a Centurion. This is all before being placed into barracks and donning their Roman legionary soldier outfits.

Morning activities began with a fun introduction to who the Romans were, what they believed in and what life was like as a Roman soldier. After this, the children separated themselves into their barrack formations to complete a carousel of activities which would ‘prepare them’ for life in the Roman army – these included signing their contracts in Latin, taking a tour of the facilities of the fort and making their own clay lamp.

In the afternoon, the children were back in formation again, before listening to a safety talk and being ‘armed’ with a shield and spear, ready to begin their physical training. The legionaries were then given instruction in using their spear, both for hand-to-hand combat and as a launching weapon in preparation for an imminent attack from the Celts.

This attack came as the children were taking part in their closing legionary ceremony towards the end of the day, and they thoroughly enjoyed employing their new-found knowledge of Roman army tactics to effectively deter the Celts from coming any further.

As we boarded the minibuses and prepared to leave Murton Park and bring our Roman experience day to a close, our staff from the trip reflected on how engaging it had been. They noted how much they had all enjoyed watching the children interact with characters from the past whilst learning all about their history topic.

Being a history subject leader, I particularly appreciated how the complex narrative of the Romans was introduced skilfully, in a child-friendly and immersive manner. It encouraged the children to think for themselves and ask questions about the information that they were given.

As annual visitors of Murton Park, this is a trip that our Year 4 children look forward to every year and I already cannot wait to bring our next set of legionary trainees back.