At Forest School last half term, Year 5 had an afternoon of history enrichment as part of their topic on Ancient Greece. Mrs Andrews taught the children about the coins that the Ancient Greeks used, and the history of how these coins came about.

The children learnt that the Ancient Greeks didn’t write a value on their coins. Value was instead determined by the material the coins were made of and by weight. A gold coin was worth more than a silver coin which was worth more than a bronze one. A heavy coin would buy more than a light one.  Some of the bronze coins were dolphin shaped, others were decorated with a range of pictures, including turtles, wrestlers and the goddess Athena.

The class then split into groups, with each group being given some coins to start off their settlement with. Different coins were worth different amounts and each group could buy materials and resources according to what they could afford. The goddess, Hera (Miss Thorley) awarded additional coins to those who she saw being kind and living out the School values and ethos, which was a great help in making their camp prosperous. Some enterprising children negotiated with the local area overseer (Mrs Andrews) to earn coins by doing public duties, such a litter picking. Sadly Hera had to imprison a thief, who she spotted stealing sticks from a neighbouring camp! Their team were however given the chance to buy them out of prison for one coin.

The children built some wonderful shelters, displayed fantastic teamwork, enterprise and haggling skills, and were rewarded with a banquet of hot squash and chocolate croissant at Base Camp. Great work Everyone!