Kings and Queens for a Day
Year 2 pupils enjoyed a right royal day out at Leeds Castle in Kent, where they had a fantastic trip exploring this historic castle and getting to dress up as famous Kings and Queens.
The trip included a fun interactive workshop, looking at the history of the monarchy associated with Leeds Castle since its beginnings as a Norman stronghold through the alternating calm and turbulence of the medieval period, and then to Tudor times when Henry VIII transformed it into a magnificent royal palace.
The children were then taken through the story of the Castle in private ownership through the Jacobean and Georgian eras, and right up to the early 20th Century when it became a glamorous country retreat for an aristocratic socialite until finally being established in its current position as a public attraction by the creation of the Leeds Castle Foundation.
As is so often the case, it was the splendour and pageantry of the Tudor period that really captured pupils’ imaginations, and much fun was had re-enacting and playing the roles of the Kings, Queens and other royal figures associated with the Castle.
After a tour of the magnificent rooms and chapels of the Castle interior, the children had lots of fun outside in glorious sunshine, navigating their way through the famous Yew maze to end in a magical subterranean grotto.
