On Thursday 7 February, LIII girls enjoyed a visit to Sulgrave Manor in Banbury, Oxfordshire. It is the ancestral home of the Washington family, a branch of which later settled in America and provided the first American President, George Washington.
Nell and Mary were our two guides, dressed as Tudor ladies. They helped the girls to dress up as either Tudor boys or girls and began a wonderful role play to dramatize the Tudor dynasty, concentrating on Henry VIII's six wives, three children, the reasons for these marriages, divorces and the break with Rome. The girls really enjoyed revising this fabulous topic and everyone was involved as a character as the story progressed.
The girls watched a baby doll being dressed in a nappy and swaddling and were amazed to learn that Tudor mothers would hang their babies from hooks on the wall to keep them safe from the many rats! One girl was dressed up as a rich Tudor lady and the girls enjoyed watching her maids place on the many different parts of her robe.
In the afternoon the girls had tours of the manor house with rooms impressively preserved from Tudor times and complete with utensils and furniture. There was lots to learn with question and answer sessions in the kitchen, dining hall and bed chamber. In these three rooms they were encouraged to come up and hold artifacts and to imagine what life must have been like at Sulgrave Manor in Tudor times.
Mrs Doran, Head of Prep said "The girls loved the trip and I must say that it is the best school trip I have ever organized. We will most certainly be revisiting Sulgrave Manor next year".