The
children of Acklington Church of England First school visited
the Museum of Antiquities in December for a day of Winter celebrations.
The day started when they met Bryona, a Celtic housewife. She told them
about her life in a small Celtic village and described the feasting that
took place to celebrate the death of the Old Year and welcome in the New
Year. Bryona served the children oatcakes and apples, washed down with
'cider'.
The
children were warned to be on the lookout for the invading Romans
and sure enough they ran into a legionary - Marcus.
Marcus told them the story of the birth of Mithras. He was an important
god worshipped by the Roman army through out the Roman Empire. His birthday
was celebrated with feasting in December. The children drank 'wine' and
ate honey cake and fruits
Lastly
the children met Aldred an Anglo-Saxon monk from Jarrow who told
them the Christmas story.
The
day finished with the children singing Christmas carols for the
monk.
Back
at school Class 1 are trying an experiment to see if they can
grow their own crop marks. They built walls from building
bricks and buried them in compost. They sowed one tray with grass
seeds and the other with cress seeds. They are now watching them
grow to see what happens.
