VR-enhanced Anglo-Saxons workshops for primary schools. Walk through Anglo-Saxon Britain. Investigate the legendary Sutton Hoo helmet. Step inside Warwick Castle’s Anglo-Saxon origins. Decode runic writing. Role-play in King Alfred’s court. Two KS2 statutory units in one workshop.
The curriculum requires “Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons” AND “the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England”. Both are statutory. Our workshop covers Anglo-Saxon-side of both — or combine with Vikings for the full story.
Most Y5 teachers deliver Anglo-Saxons in autumn or spring — sometimes pairing with Vikings, sometimes running them as separate units. Workshop bookings fill from September to April. Book by July for first pick of dates.
Some Y4 schools deliver Anglo-Saxons as the natural follow-on from Romans — explaining what happened when the Romans left Britain. Our workshop fits perfectly as a bridge between the two topics.
The most-booked combination. A full-day workshop covers Anglo-Saxon settlements and Alfred the Great in the morning, Viking raids and longships in the afternoon. Two compulsory KS2 units in one workshop fee.
When the Romans left in 410 AD, Britain entered a period schools used to call the “Dark Ages” — an unhelpful label that obscured one of the most important transformations in British history. The Anglo-Saxons settled, farmed, traded, fought the Vikings, and gradually unified the English kingdoms under leaders like Alfred the Great and Athelstan. The word “England” itself comes from “Angle-Land”. The English language we speak descends from theirs.
Spark2’s workshop tells that story. VR takes pupils through Anglo-Saxon Britain — from settlement to the great hall at Sutton Hoo, where the famous ship burial was discovered in 1939. Pupils investigate the iconic Sutton Hoo helmet, explore Warwick Castle’s Anglo-Saxon origins, and meet the Vikings as the Anglo-Saxons would have met them. Hands-on activities include decoding and writing runic inscriptions, shield wall formations, Anglo-Saxon jewellery-making and role-play in King Alfred’s court.
Built for the KS2 statutory Anglo-Saxons unit — with the depth to honour the period that turned post-Roman Britain into England.
The National Curriculum requires KS2 schools to deliver both “Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots” and “the Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor”. Two statutory units that often run as a single combined topic.
Your facilitator selects the right activities and depth for the year groups in the room. Book a full day to combine Anglo-Saxons with Vikings, or go deep into Anglo-Saxon-only content across both KS2 statutory units.
VR brings pupils inside an Anglo-Saxon village — the longhouse, the great hall, the daily life of farmers and warriors. They see what it was actually like to settle Britain in the centuries after the Romans left.
VR ExperienceVR closes in on a silver penny minted under Alfred the Great. Pupils investigate the inscriptions, the iconography and what coins tell us about Alfred’s unification of England against the Viking threat.
VR ExperienceA photo-realistic VR scene inside Warwick Castle, exploring its Anglo-Saxon origins (a fortified burh under Alfred’s daughter Aethelflaed in 914 AD) and how the site evolved into the medieval castle we know today.
VR ExperiencePupils experience Anglo-Saxon Britain’s great threat: Viking raiders arriving by longship. They learn about the Danelaw, the response of King Alfred, and the long struggle for the Kingdom of England. Sets up the natural combined-day with Vikings.
VR ExperienceHands-on rune decoding plus a journey along a single street as it changes from Anglo-Saxon village to Norman town. Pupils make Anglo-Saxon jewellery, write their names in runes, and form a shield wall — the unforgettable activity that lands the history hardest.
Hands-OnEvery session is designed around measurable outcomes that align with the National Curriculum and build the historical thinking skills KS2 inspections look for.
Pupils understand how the Anglo-Saxons settled Britain after the Romans left — the kingdoms, the villages, the gradual emergence of “England”.
Pupils understand the Viking threat, Alfred’s resistance, the Danelaw, and how Anglo-Saxon England was forged from a struggle that lasted centuries.
Pupils can recognise runic writing and understand archaeological evidence like Sutton Hoo — how we know what we know about a period with few written records.
Pupils understand that modern English descends from Anglo-Saxon — and start spotting Anglo-Saxon roots in the words they use every day.
We bring everything — facilitator, VR headsets, runic kits, replica artefacts, jewellery materials and resource packs. Book a full day to combine Anglo-Saxons with Vikings for two compulsory KS2 units in one visit.