Suffolk Archaeology, as the former county council archaeological unit, has a long, established record of providing a wide range of educational activities to schools, colleges and the general public. Now a Community Interest Company we offer a range of free education services and resources to local schools that will enhance children's learning and generate excitement and enthusiasm for any project they are following …
Our dedicated Outreach Officer is available for school visits and can offer various modules, themed by period, that can either stand alone or be combined together to stimulate and enhance learning. Although primarily aimed at National Curriculum Key Stage 2 any session can be adjusted to different age groups. free of charge
The sessions are exciting, engaging, and accessible to all abilities, with each giving pupils the opportunity to handle real and replica artefacts, learn about how we use archaeological evidence to find out about the lives of people in the past, and even take part in their own classroom dig.
To find out more about our free education services, or make a booking, please contact Alex Fisher or complete the form below.
Recreate an archaeological dig in the classroom, using our comprehensive range of dig buckets, sieves, trays and tools! This session can be carried out as a stand alone activity or used to compliment the period themed modules described below. We also have a series of collections of 'dry' artefacts including pottery, bone, shells etc to introduce children to the idea of handling and classifying artefacts.
Learn about the Stone Age by handling a range of flint artefacts, such as axes, arrowheads, scrapers and blades, and the tools used to produce them flint including stone and antler hammers and antler tines which were used for pressure flaking. There are also bone tools and a selection of bone and skins.
As an extension to the Stone Age module, explore the dawn of the age of metals with our hands on reproductions of a bronze sword, socketed axe, spearhead and Beaker pottery. We can also supply a genuine Beaker funerary urn to look at.
This module delves into life before the Roman conquest. We have a range of weapons and clothing including sword, shield and Celtic clothes to try out. There are reproduction Iceni coins and genuine Iron Age pottery to handle.
This module offers a range of Roman military equipment; centurion and legionnaire helmets, shields, lorica segmentata armour, and weapons including pilum, gladius and dagger. Discover how the Romans fought wars and dress up as a Roman soldier.
A companion to the Roman military module, this includes a range of Roman pottery, lamps, strigils, coins, and brooches to help bring alive the domestic life of the Roman period. There are also bones and shells to handle and even a cooking recipe or two!
This module has a replica Sutton Hoo helmet, shield, seax and spear. We have examples of some complete Anglo-Saxon pots and the stamps used to decorate them. There are coins from the East Anglian region as well as the remains of a Anglo-Saxon feast.
For those schools who want to carry out their own archaeological dig we can supply all the equipment you need, and the guidance of a real archaeologist, to dig and record one or more test pits within the school grounds. By excavating such test pits children can discover the history of their school for themselves through the discovery and interpretation of their finds.
Whenever possible we also try to arrange class visits to our excavation sites, usually by approaching local schools when we have a suitable, and exciting, project about to start or underway. Unfortunately opportunities for field visits are frequently limited due to health and safety or timing constraints but please contact us if you would be interested in bringing a class to an archaeological site, or keep an eye on our news page for details of our current projects and upcoming events such as site open days.
We are developing a suite of resources on a range of period or theme based topics for the use of parents, teachers and schools, all of which can be downloaded below.
Archaeology is a multi-disciplinary subject and individual archaeologists typically use a wide range of skills and knowledge to explore our past. As a result aspects of archaeology can be used in many different ways within the KS1 and KS2 curriculums. Here are a few suggestions as to how you can use different subjects to look at the prehistoric period.
Design and Technology