Viking in School Education From the Longship Trading Company

Why choose a Longship Day?
There are many reason to choose a Viking & Saxon day in your school the cost is one, all schools have to watch their budgets and to be seen to offer value for money. Longship meets both these criteria especially when judged against an out of school visit, in almost every case the cost of the coach hire is more than the cost of a visit from Longship, plus we spend at least 5 hours or more with the children (the Jorvik centre tour takes less than an hour, and it will probably take most of the day to get there and back).

Most visits to historical venues are a "look and learn" experience but with Longship the children get to touch feel and try on the extensive range of artifacts we bring in to school, as well as taking part in role play during the various parts of the day, and the children get to interact with a real live Viking.

Our school visit is designed to fit in with you normal school day and to cause as little disruption to the rest of the school as possible, although 60 plus children screaming battle chants and a 6ft Viking in the dining hall at lunch time does tend to cause a little disruption.

Add this to the fact that no extra staff are required during a visit and the lack of hassle and stress associated with external school trips make booking a Longship school visit one of the best days both teachers and the children will ever have in school.

As we have stated before we average over 200 school visits per year, and have visited over 1500 different schools, and a large majority of them regularly book a return visit, and due to increased demand for one of our school days some schools are now booking a year or more in advance to get the date that they want. So please BOOK EARLY!

Read letters from Children and Teachers about what they think of a Longship visit, or read the Times Educational Supplement article about one of our school visits or Download a copy of our Schools Brochure.

Celebrating Longship's 1000th school visit are (from left to right)
Former Junior Education Minister Jaqui Smith MP, Bjarni, a little warrior and Ken Purchase MP

Longship has built a nationally known reputation as being one of the leading specialists in bringing Saxon & Viking living history displays into schools. Our visits are designed to relate to the history national curriculum, which states pupils should have opportunities to study the reasons why people came to Britain, and to learn about their way of life, and their impact on the people they encountered and conquered. We achieve this by allowing the children to see, touch, smell and wear a wide range of period artifact both real and reproduction, and through engaging the children in role play, games and demonstrations of various period crafts.
"Bjarni is mesmerising, one moment a cuddly comic, another a raucous martinet, leading hordes of children in ear-splitting battle chants!" Quoted from the Times Educational Supplement.		You will spend the day in the company of BJARNI ERIKSSON Fearsome Warrior, Trader, Story Teller & Sometime Blacksmith
Bjarni will tell you what Vikings & Saxons did, where they came from and the clothes they wore. The day includes a look at farming, trading, spinning and coin making using role-play and hands on experience. Followed by a pre-Christian story of the Creation ...... Not for the faint hearted ! After Lunch The children will participate in a village meeting ( Motte-Saxon / Thing-Viking ). During this meeting we will look at three types of trial: Trial by Worth, Trial by Ordeal and Trial by Combat . They will then witness a punishment in action. This is followed by a game which everyone can play.

The End of The Day The exciting finale centres on the warrior's role which gives the pupils the chance to hold weapons & wear armour and helmets. Bjarni will explain how they were used & the horror of war. The children are formed into a battle line where they will learn battle chants &, in a strictly controlled environment, experience an exciting demonstration of combat techniques. Please note this is only a general outline of the day and it is subject to change. Learn More about the Eriksson Family, see more School Pictures.
Why choose a Longship Day? There are many reason to choose a Viking & Saxon day in your school the cost is one, all schools have to watch their budgets and to be seen to offer value for money. Longship meets both these criteria especially when judged against an out of school visit, in almost every case the cost of the coach hire is more than the cost of a visit from Longship, plus we spend at least 5 hours or more with the children (the Jorvik centre tour takes less than an hour, and it will probably take most of the day to get there and back). Most visits to historical venues are a "look and learn" experience but with Longship the children get to touch feel and try on the extensive range of artifacts we bring in to school, as well as taking part in role play during the various parts of the day, and the children get to interact with a real live Viking. Our school visit is designed to fit in with you normal school day and to cause as little disruption to the rest of the school as possible, although 60 plus children screaming battle chants and a 6ft Viking in the dining hall at lunch time does tend to cause a little disruption. Add this to the fact that no extra staff are required during a visit and the lack of hassle and stress associated with external school trips make booking a Longship school visit one of the best days both teachers and the children will ever have in school. As we have stated before we average over 200 school visits per year, and have visited over 1500 different schools, and a large majority of them regularly book a return visit, and due to increased demand for one of our school days some schools are now booking a year or more in advance to get the date that they want. So please BOOK EARLY! Read letters from Children and Teachers about what they think of a Longship visit, or read the Times Educational Supplement article about one of our school visits or Download a copy of our Schools Brochure. Celebrating Longship's 1000th school visit are (from left to right) Former Junior Education Minister Jaqui Smith MP, Bjarni, a little warrior and Ken Purchase MP
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Longship in Schools & Museums