Year 8

Year 8 Humanities – Castle Design

As part of a recent Humanities CAT in Year 8, students were allocated into teams and informed that they were highly talented, yet very low paid craftspeople in Medieval England. Their teams were given the task of designing a new castle for the local lord and had three lessons to research, prepare and present their designs. However, the lord had also asked other teams to tender/pitch for the castle build and would choose the best team based on presentations. Each team needed to research and decide on features to include within their castle design to provide strong defence against invading forces. They also needed to consider castle staffing, resources and rooms needed in order to live a comfortable life. 

Teams did a great job, putting effort into researching and preparing their designs and presentations. The teamwork that students displayed was impressive when working with others that they may not have previously worked with. Some team members admitted that they were nervous about presenting, but chose to challenge themselves and give it a go which was fantastic. After all groups presented and voted for the team that best met the lord’s brief, students completed a reflection and noted down learnings and ideas on what they thought they could do differently next time they undertake a task like this.