Year 4’s Tudor Day took place on Tuesday 7^thFebruary.  As in previous years, the Diversions group visited the school, bringing costumes and a range of activities so that the children could learn and understand more of what life would have been like in Tudor times.  At the start of the day the children were asked what they knew about the Tudors and the people of Diversions were very impressed by the depth of the children’s knowledge.  Pupils in Year 4 were able to name all the Tudor monarchs, name each of Henry VIII’s six wives (in the correct order!) and state what happened to each of these wives. In addition, the children could share facts about daily life in Tudor times, such as how the ordinary people disposed of their waste!  During the day, everyone dressed in Tudor costumes.  This was a very interesting experience and most people thought it was much easier to get dressed in modern times, even in winter, because we don’t have lots of fiddly strings to tie and boys don’t have to wear hose (tights).  Two children were chosen from each of the two groups to be Lord and Lady Five Ways for the day and wore special costumes with more decoration.  When they were dressed in their costumes the children learned the special manners and behaviour of the Tudor Court and performed a slow dance called the pavane, also known as the peacock dance, which was danced to the music of the time in a large circle.

All the children sculpted fruits from marchpane, a paste made from almonds and sugar, which we know as marzipan.  Treats like these would have been eaten only by the wealthy because sugar was scarce in Tudor times and poor people could not have afforded it.  Other typical marchpane sculptures of the time would have been animals, castles, people and trees.  The children also made a box decorated with a Tudor rose to hold the marchpane fruits so that they could be taken home.

Diversions brought a range of craft activities from which the children could choose.  They could make a French hood (the headdress made popular by Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife), a bookmark using Tudor-style calligraphy, a meat knife in a sheath or a fan.

Meeting Diversions, dressing in costumes, learning a dance and preparing food brought the whole Tudor period to life.  All agreed that the occasion was extremely enjoyable and everyone expects to remember this special day for a very long time.