Week 12 - History - Shire Hall
On Tuesday we had our school trip to Shire Hall in Dorchester to learn about the Great Fire of Dorchester in 1613. For many of the children it was their first school trip and their first time on a bus. They were all very excited but managed to listen well, enjoy the experience and learn a lot.
Once we got to Shire Hall we learnt a bit about life in 1613, what Dorchester was like, looked at a map from that time and discovered how the fire started. The children were then able to have a walk through Shire Hall to see the cells, where the prisoners had to remove the gunpowder from and imagine what it must have been like. We also went to find the blue plaque (on Connells estate agents) that marks the spot where the fire started. The children were able to use their knowledge of the Great Fire of London to answer questions and predict what might have happened in Dorchester. Our final activity was in the court room where children acted out the trial of Thomas Baker and the jurors had to decide if he was guilty or not guilty of starting the fire. It was an amazing morning and I was incredibly proud of the children's behaviour and attitude to learning outside of the classroom.
Anne Brown from Shire Hall who led our trip sent me an email - quote below.....
"We all thought the children dealt incredibly well with the trip and the new experiences, you have some superb thinkers and readers and you are quite right to be proud of them!"
Well done Beech Class!
