The weather today was not as kind as it had been on the previous days, but luckily our activities were indoors. We started with a breakfast of cereal and croissants and then made our way back to the Manor House to learn about Onagers. These are small catapults used by the Roman Army during sieges to break city walls and buildings and to terrify the enemy. The onager got its name from the kicking action of the machine - the rear end tended kick up when it launched a stone and looked similar to a type of wild donkey, called an onager, kicking its hind legs. The children made their own Onagers and were then delighted to have a chance to practise their aim through targetting myself - I have to say, they certainly can aim well! Our final activity was making aqueducts - the Roman aqueduct was a channel used to transport fresh water - they were an amazing feat of engineering that can still be found in countries that were part of the Roman Empire. The children were split into teams and set the challenge of building arches - it was great to see them problem solving, learning from mistakes and working together. All the teams were successful and amazed to find that their arches could actually hold the weight of a child! They connected their arches with guttering and then had to figure out how to make the water flow. Using a tennis ball to simulate this, they worked through the problem and were successful. What a great end to our busy days at Hooke Court. I have been so impressed by their team work, communication skills and resilience - they have truly lived out our school values of being wise, responsible and kind.
