I popped into to Classics (suggested age range of 7 – 11 year olds) this week and found out that the children knew far more than I know about Pompei! Kate runs an older Classics class for teens, Classical Civilisation GCSE and Key Stage 3 History and IGCSE History classes, as well as Beginners Latin classes for our community. Her passion for History is infectious, so if you are looking for someone to inspire your young people to love history or if they already love history, it is definitely worth giving her classes a go.
What I liked about this lesson was how the children were encouraged to put themselves in the shoes of a Pompeian and were chipping in all the time with what they thought about what life must have been like as a Pompeian, how difficult it would have been for them personally and even some interesting points being made about how unfair the society was and how tough women and in particular girls under the age of 13 had it in Pompei.
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There was a lovely mixture of looking at evidence, discussing how life was for the Pompeians and a chance to record their learning on a pre-printed timetable of a day in the life of a Pompeian either in writing or in pictures according to what the children felt comfortable with. I loved the discussion that tool place about how most children in Pompei would have been home educated – again, just further proof that the children were really relating themselves to the people in Pompei.
My favourite moment in the lesson was when the discussion turned to how toilets were public and how everyone sat around chatting on the toilet and shared a sponge on a stick instead of using toilet paper! The children were both appalled and amused by such an unfamiliar concept!
I spoke to Kate about her classes after the lesson and this is what she had to say:
“I love seeing so many enthusiastic Classicists in my lessons with LLP! There are so many weird and wonderful facts to learn about the ancient world and it is always so rewarding when I see people’s faces light up as they delve into a new topic.”
Kate