ST John’s School pupils looked back to Tudor times last week, as part of their studies of past lives in Britain.

Year 4 youngsters and their form tutor Rebecca Colwill came to school in outfits which reflected the fashion of the 1500s and 1600s.

They began by singing carols, followed by a writing lesson using real feather quills.

Mrs Colwill said: “The children loved writing with the quills and even though they were a bit scratchy they all managed to write their names very effectively and in the correct style.”

Their PE lesson involved rolling hoops, skipping and blind man’s bluff, all still in costume as Tudor children did not have special PE kit to change into.

Maths involved playing Shove Halfpenny, relying on careful measuring of the force required to move the coin and then adding up the scores.

During the afternoon the children learned fencing and how to dance a Pavanne, took part in a bible reading and did some more writing.

Parents were then invited into class and the children presented their work from the day and showed off their dancing and fencing skills.

Mrs Colwill said: “It was a fantastic effort considering they learned the dance and fencing techniques in one day. It was excellent fun and all of us left school exhausted but delighted with a very successful day.”