Anglo-Saxon Visits for Schools at KS2 

(this page is still under construction, but you can book a visit right now!)

Meet 

Osred the Anglo-Saxon - school classroom visits for KS2 Invaders and Settlers

Hear Stories and Music from our Anglo-Saxon Past!
Learn to write with a quill pen!
Anglo-Saxon Artefacts, Riddles, Harp playing and much more . . .

As seen on: Channel 4 Time Team, Channel 4 Schools at Work, BBC 2 Zig Zag Timelines

A fun and fascinating insight into the Anglo-Saxon world, which your class will always remember.

Osred's Anglo-Saxon Visits are designed to complement the National Curriculum Invaders and Settlers topic for Key Stage 2 (KS2).

Sessions cover the whole of Anglo-Saxon history from Invasion and Settlement to Conversion and the fight against Viking invaders. You can choose whether you want to focus on the building of Offa's Dyke, on the Life and Times of Bede, on the English resistance to the Vikings, or on a combination of Anglo-Saxon themes.

As Osred, historian and storyteller Thor Ewing brings your class face to face with the Anglo-Saxon past.

Through replica artefacts children can see the everyday items their Anglo-Saxon counterparts would once have used.

Through stories and music they can enter the inner world of the Anglo-Saxons.

THE MEETING: The children are summoned by a blast of the horn, and enter to the sound of Osred’s music, and the sight of Osred in Anglo-Saxon clothing. Osred then greets them in Old English, and teaches them to do the same. We look briefly at the linguistic legacy of the Anglo-Saxons, and imagine what it would be like if we really stepped back in time. 

WHAT DO YOU KNOW? We take an overview of Anglo-Saxon life and history, by probing for what the children already know, and then adding more detail and colour. This session concentrates usually on the Anglo-Saxon Settlement and the early English kingdoms.

LEGENDS FROM A FOREIGN HOMELAND: The Anglo-Saxons brought myths and legends with them to England, telling of kings and heroes of long ago.

QUILL-PENS, RIDDLES AND RUNES: Working in smaller groups, we take Bede's story of Caedmon to discuss music and poetry, looking at various Anglo-Saxon musical instruments (lyre-harp, bone flute, drum, hornpipe). I ask the children some poetic Anglo-Saxon Riddles. Then I demonstrate runic writing using a knife and wood, and we compare it with the writing used by monks. The children try their hand at using quill pens.
This session is usually repeated with a second group after lunch.

VIKING INVASION: All the children come back together to look at the Viking invasions and the Anglo-Saxon response. This will lead into a look at weapons and tactics. The children can feel the weight of replica weapons and try forming a shield wall.

It’s an angle on the Anglo-Saxons you won't forget!

Osred is portrayed by Anglo-Saxon expert Thor Ewing, who has many years’ experience working with children in schools across the country. Thor has made a lifelong study of Viking, Anglo-Saxon and Medieval culture, and has written books and articles on Anglo-Saxon life and culture; he is an award-winning translator of Viking poetry. His costume performances bring to life 1000 years of history from the Anglo-Saxons through Vikings, Normans, and the Middle Ages up to Tudor times and beyond. As well as his children’s and family programmes, Thor gives readings, lectures and storytellings for adults too.

As Osred, I can bring the benefits of a lifetime's study of the Anglo-Saxon and Viking world into your classroom; my aim is not just to inform, but also to inspire and enlighten.

email Thor Ewing here


To find out about other kinds of historical storytelling click here