Educational Resources

Educational resources are drawn from an association of re-enactors, craftsmen, artisans and professional educators who support the teaching of history, heritage and traditional skills through the medium of interactive historical demonstration, character role-play and hands on practical experience.

We are available for school visits where a guided tour introduces the concepts of the past, heritage and the historic landscape. This is reinforced by experiencing the work first hand of restoring historic features, buildings and landscapes.

We will also undertake visits to the class room and outreach work.

Special living history events can be staged during the summer term for schools.

With a combination of authentic costumes, original and reproduction historical artefacts, items and equipment we bring the experience of history to life.

The demonstrations are presented within a living history environment from a recreated historical building to an encampment of period tents. The aim is to reinforce key elements of the curriculum whilst offering an exciting visual and hands on approach to the understanding of history. We wish to communicate ‘a sense of change and continuity from the past’ within an exciting sensory experience that stimulates the pupil’s interest and understanding of history. We at History Matters feel that children are more likely to retain the Knowledge that History Matters passes on by interacting rather than just reading out of a text book , this is because they are touching , feeling , smelling and having Fun while they are learning .

Our resources are also suitable for cross curriculum study including literacy as creative writing (e.g. a child’s day in the 15 th C.) and technology.

Presentations take the format of a combination of historical demonstration / talk and practical hands on activities and workshops that allows the pupils to try the craft or skill for themselves. A range of games, puzzles and quizzes allow the pupils to explore and understand the information and material presented to them in a lively and informative manner.

We are able to present history from the Norman Conquest through to the Tudors/Stuart Age either as isolated, period specific presentations based around a particular historical event or topic (The battle of Hastings, Owain Glyndwr or the Spanish Armada for example) or as a more general presentation based on, again for example, the Medieval period.

Demonstrations and resources are available to cover the following topic examples:

Everyday Life: includes

· Houses and home – where did people live and what was in their homes, did they have furniture and decorations?

· How where these things built and made and from what?

· Travel and transport, - how did people get about in the past before the car, train and plane?

· Clothes, footwear and fashion - what was worn in the past and what clothes do we still wear today?

· Spinning, weaving and dying – how where the clothes made and from what? Can you spin a thread from fleece yourself and how long does it take?

· Farming, food, cooking and feasting – what was eaten and when? How was it cooked and where did it come from before we had Supermarkets?

· Money and work, people, animals and the land.

Entertainment: sports, toys, games, festivals and holidays.

Warfare and Conflict: castles and sieges, knights and the feudal system, weapons and armour.

A range of educational resources will be available to compliment our visits to schools that will include work sheets and questionnaires. We can also supply a number of historical resources to be used in the classroom to continue the work introduced during the visit. These are available either to purchase or as part of a loan box scheme for a specific term. All can be tailored to suit an individual schools requirement. Please enquire for details or to discuss your particular needs.

The content of these resources may be tailored to suit the individual school and curriculum requirements and may involve the visit focusing on a particular historical period or event.

Although designed to meet the curriculum requirements at Key Stage 1, 2 and 3 these presentations have proved particularly useful in teaching pupils who normally encounter difficulty with subjects such as history in the class room.