Houten, Heilige Familie School, Monday 5th October 2006

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School visit
Monday October 30th and November 13th 2006

My third school visit was coming up, the first to my daughter's school more than a year ago, the second one with Corbvlo this spring. And while I was a lot more secure about performing, I also realised that the children had grown and might expect a lot more than the simple presentation. There were now lessons about the Romans, teachers to consult, and after all, it was my daughters' class...

Day 1 -

Monday 30

Hi kids, Romani ante Portas!

Cool helmet!

Any questions?

Let's begin..

Mind the ceiling!

So this is how the infantry looks in battle: one foot forward, lance almost killing the teacher..

The first day I turned up in full armour. The lesson in their book was about 'the Roman fort' so it seemed the right course of action anyway. That was easy - it's what I do usually, and when they began asking questions the hours flew by. The class was very attentive, not only the boys (which was to be expected) but the girls as well. Armour, clothing, equipment, they wanted to know about all of it. Of course I tried to hit sparks with the flintstone (cutting my fingers in the process) and also carfully showing them why plumbatae are so dangerous. The show-n-feel at the end was also very succesfull, kids want to touch everything. All to soon it was time.

Day 2 -

Monday 13

Helping the slaves to decorate their tunics..

..and with their role in society.

Next, the coloni or the lowest of the free classes.

Behind them the cives are decorating their future clothing.

The slaves show what they can be.

The second time was a lot harder. The lesson of the day was 'dressed as a Roman', actually about re-enacting but I had thought of something different. It took a bit of preparation, about a topic I don't usually show, and I was a bit nevous about class participation. Would they catch the idea? But actually it went very well, I need not have worried. I went without armour (but with a spatha) and divided the class into four groups after having them read a short text. I chose the slaves (servi), the serfs (coloni), citizens (cives) and the upper class (patricii), explaining about each group their freedoms, rights and duties. Meanwhile every group went about decorating some old white T-shirts according to their 'ranks'. When they were finished I called every group to the front off the class and asked them some questions about what they thought which group was best off. After that we did some more show-n-feel, which concluded yet another successful school visit.