Immediately the group is broken into the 2 classes. My class is taken to leave our lunch bags in the cloakroom and back outside and walked to the Painted Hall. It is an amazing sight with the walls and ceilings painted with images from Greek mythology. This was originally a dining hall for retired sailors, built by the royal family. The children are told about some of the Greek gods and goddesses and are told about their symbols. They then have to find some of these gods and goddesses in the paintings that decorate the hall. I was amazed at how quickly the children were able to find some of them. Some of the children then got to act out a story as narrated by our guide. After this, and finding some of the villains of Greek mythology the children are brought back to the museum and brought to the art room where they made some masks to represent Greek gods and goddesses. Their imagination is incredible!
After mask making the children are more than happy to take a break for lunch. After lunch we were divided into our small groups and were given a quiz. Each section was based in a different part of the museum and the children had to read the information and look at all the different artefacts to be able to answer the questions on the quiz. It was really enjoyable and the children loved dressing up as the sailors and trying on a jousting helmet (it was heavy and smelly apparently!)
After collecting coats and lunch bags the children get ready to walk back to the station. At this stage the children are tired and the journey seems very long, compared to the walk from the station (even to the teachers). Back on the train and after a short walk back to school we had time to give out the masks before heading back downstairs to meet the parents.