Testimonials
Below are some of the testimonials Discovering Medieval have recieved for their displays from teachers, students, museums and historic sites.
 Teachers:
"Highly recommended for their professionalism, knowledge, enthusiasm and amazing array of equipment."- Ian Dawson, former Director of the SHP, writer, lecturer, consultant and much more! (we recently worked with Ian & Hodder on their new medicine through time CD)
Westheath School (100% special needs school):
"Your specialist knowledge and great rapport with the students brought the experience of Life in Medieval times alive for them and they are still discussing the event. Your amazing show certainly allowed them to appreciate two fascinating aspects of Medieval culture" (armour & surgery).
Lindon Bennett School (100% special needs school):
"We are very grateful to you for your kindness, patience and understanding. Your day with us was one of the best we've had. Thank you."
SWP School:
"we had a fantastic time when you came to visit us. The girls gained so much from it - their history came alive! The day ran so smoothly due to the two of you being so well organised and this really enabled the history teachers to also enjoy the day as well. Many thanks.
P.S. We can't wait till next year!"
SB school:
'I would like to say thank you so much for giving our kids such a good experience. The evaluations they filled in showed real enthusiasm, a couple even said their least favourite part of the day was break and lunchtimes! I hope that we will see you again soon.
 Netherhall School :
"I thought the two days were excellent. Getting the pupils dressed in medieval costumes was a brilliant idea, they really felt (and looked) the part, and they all kept their hats on throughout. All of you had an excellent manner with the pupils: lively, friendly and calm with a sense of humour. And this certainly helped the sessions go well. There was just the right balance of information and practical hands on activities. The pupils were engaged throughout and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunities their roles gave them to interact with you and the rest of their year group: and of course they enjoyed the armour and the leech! . They all really had a fun educational experience. Well done! The year 7 social area has been buzzing with talk of “ the days” all this week! "
In a quote to the local paper: "In lessons, Year 7 have studied the medieval world and this experience consolidated and deepened their knowledge and understanding of the period in a fun and interactive way.
The whole experience was a resounding success."
Becky Curtis , Head of History at Hornsey School:
"Dear Discovering Medieval,
Thanks so much for the fantastic two day workshop you did with our Year 7 classes. Both staff and students really enjoyed the activities and they were the highlight of our Medieval Extravaganza.
Your carefully planned workshops were both fun and educational providing the students with an engaging introduction to life in medieval England. In fact you managed an overview of our entire Medieval Realms course in two hours! The students responded well to the competitive edge, and this helped them really focus on the important content of the workshop.
We really appreciated your ability to provide for us exactly what we needed and help support the evening presentation to parents as well.
I would happily and confidently recommend you to any other History Department. Please use my name and contact details if necessary.
Wishing you the best of luck and hopefully see you next year "
Head of History, Kings School:
 "Dear Paul and Karen
I write in order to thank you for bringing 'Discovering Medieval' to our school last week. The children greatly enjoyed the presentations and learned much from your presence. This is a tribute to your expertise and knowledge. Your attention to detail was most impressive and the children learnt a huge amount about life in the middle ages. I look forward to you returning next year."
Head of History, Ewell Castle School
"Dear Karen & Welly, Just a quick note to thank you very much for your visit yesterday. It was pitched exactly right for our boys and I particularly liked the hands on approach. The boys really enjoyed themselves and learnt a lot. Look forward to something the same next year. "
Students:
'I am writing to say a big thank you. I thought it was really interesting and I'm one of those people who don't really like history. P.S. Hope you can come again soon'.
'I want to thank you for our completely wonderful day on Tuesday. All the way home I was babbling in the car about how utterly fantastic the day was. I especially enjoyed "Wedding" the two houses! It was amazing how many things we learnt in just ONE day! The costumes were fun (and fashionable!) and you made the atmosphere so enthusiastic. Thanks again!'
'You made the day very enjoyable for me and many more! It got to the point at home where my parents told me to either go away or sshhh because they'd had enough of my talking! I think it was a lovely idea and I loved every second of it, especially when we made our medicine. Once again thank you very much!'
'I really enjoyed learning about how medieval people lived and how hard they worked to survive.'
'I want to be a teacher to learn about medieval because you were wonderful'.
'Thank you for the whole experience. I loved it and will have it in my memory forever.'
 'I loved the way you had the armour and that we all got to try it on, as you're not able to do that in museums so what you did was great fun.'
The following letters were created in a science class after attending a display, students had great fun making ink and creating the letters, some even have wax seals on them: Lord Neville; Unfair; Popetax; Normans
We got to see a medieval doctors surgical kit. There were lots of different types of nasty cutting knives. We saw a real leech –urgh!!. I was a lady and the clothes were really heavy but I had the best two hours ever!'
'Seeing people catching the disease made the reality of how bad and contagious the disease really was more real'.
'The medieval day was really good, especially as I got to be a lady in waiting, with a very fine costume. I was very hot with all the clothes on and would not be surprised if many of the medieval people dropped dead from heat exhaustion as well as the Black Death!. The horrible slimy leech was brilliant but a bit nasty! All of the stuff was really fun and a brilliant thing to do.'
Popes letter - written by some very enthusiastic pupils during the display to prove they had permission to marry.
Popes Letter version 2 - More ethusiastic pupils!
 'Thank you for doing an excellent performance and bringing history to life. Medieval day was an amazing success, I really enjoyed it. The best part, for me was dressing up. I couldn't choose what I really enjoyed because it was all excellent. I really loved it, thanks again for a brilliant performance'.
'I loved being the apothecary and wearing the navy-blue dress with gold laces. My mother is a nurse and I know how some medical procedures are taken place so it was interesting to learn (how) they were dealt with in that period'.
'I had a fantastic time! I learned a lot about the medieval times without knowing it! My favourite part was when we did apothecary and our teachers was the Guildmasters! It was nice coming back from a relaxing bank holiday to school with all the fun you made!'.
'I think you put a lot of effort into coming to our school. The costumes made me feel, I was an actual person in the medieval times.'
'Describing it in one word, I would say A.M.A.Z.I.N.G! Thank you again'.
'Thank you for a day packed full of fun! I know everyone enjoyed themselves a lot, especially me. I felt like I was in the medieval period. My favourite part of the journey was dressing up. We might have thought the costumes were silly and wierd to wear, but it was worth it. I would hate to live in medieval times because I would have to get married when I am 12 (the legal age for a girl) and I am 12 now. Also, I would have an extremely short life, that would be horrible.'
'I really enjoyed the whole experience. I liked learning the names of the clothes and shoes and dressing up and gathering points for our teams. I enjoyed everything and didn't dislike anything. Again thank you very, very, very much.'
'It was really fun when we made the boxes, my group got 10 out of 10 so we were excepted (sic) into the guild members group! I truly learned a lot, once again thank you.'
'I think it was a good idea for you to award points for correct answers, because it encouraged more people to put thier hands up and have a guess.'
 'I loved making the Black Death cure and then trying to sell our concoction to the Master Apothecary. We learnt a lot about herbs and what they were used for in the Middle Ages. It was a really fun afternoon.'
'I also liked making the medicine because it really gave me an idea of what medieval medicine smelt like and what it was used for and what illness. It was really interesting that medieval life was really different to ours'.
'It helped me understand better than just reading it all off a book and the drama was spectacular'.
'I really enjoyed the drama side of things, like the dressing-up and seeing all the medicines and how they would treat different injuries and illnesses. It really helped me to understand and injoy (sic) medieval life'.
'You made it feel like I was in medieval times. It was really fun. It made it feel like the plague was around. I was shocked when (I learnt) how many people could die from it'.
'In fact I enjoyed all of it. Because it was exciting. It was a great time for me because I learnt a lot. So thanks again!'
'The costumes you showed us has helped me on my costume design (they had to make their own medieval costumes after this event). The weddings and food showed me the difference between poor and rich people and what we eat and what medieval people eat.'
'I really enjoyed doing the weaving for the master craftsman (in the guilds section) when I was helping to make the apron, it was really fun and I still remember how to make it'.
'All of you should come again in Year 8 thats how much I had fun'.
'My favourite part was the black death it was so cool'.
'Dear Welly and the brill team. Thanks for our fabulous medieval experience. It really helped us get into the medieval feel and learn about medieval life by doing things that they did, helped us to understand how life has changed'.
 'I was the priest and enjoyed my part very much, I had to marry Margaret Beaufort and Lord Tudor to each other. I wore a black woollen cloak which was very itchy and had a large wooden cross. I think the Medieval session was a good idea it was both fun and educational. The armour was very interesting and gave you an idea of what the soldiers had to cope with.'
'The medieval experience was a great idea to give us pupils a treat. It was great fun and we also learnt a lot.'
'The whole performance was really lively. They involved you in everything. I enjoyed making the wooden boxes which were judged by the Master Guildsman. I also really enjoyed trying on the armour.'
'In order for the grade 8 class to enhance and heighten our understanding of the medieval period, we all attended a medieval workshop in our school sports hall. As soon as we stepped into the sports hall I immeadiately felt as if we had stepped into a medieval cavern. From the costumes that the spokespeople wore, to the chairs that were divided into houses. I enjoyed the way we were all able to participate, rather than just a few of us. It is an experience I won't forget as it will prove to have greater use in the future.'
'I thought it was really cool how you put so much effort into the games, and how you presented them.'
'I thought everything got explained very well and I thought the idea with the four nobel familites was very good.'
'It was so much fun and because it was fun I learnt a lot.'
'You can't run from the plague!'
'We've asked our teachers to book you again next year!'
'If we all chip in another £1.50 will you come back again tomorrow?'
 Historic sites & museums:
Lacock Abbey, National Trust
'Just a quick note to say thank you for adding such a fun and quality element to our Medieval Day with your displays of Medieval Life'.
Once again visitors both young and old really enjoyed the displays and being able to take part through your hands-on approach to history. The armour was once again a big success and the crime and punishment display was definitely a hit.
From an organiser point of view, the event was once again a success and I hope that we will be able to do something similar again in 2008. Thank you once again for an extremely professional and entertaining approach to history.'
Ian Flint - Museums Interpreters Manager, Norwich Castle
'Speaking as an experienced Interpreter and Museum Manager, may I take this opportunity to thank you for the wonderful interactive display and talks you supplied us here at Norwich Castle.
We have received over 30 individual comments slips this week mentioning your displays, and have had many more verbal comments made to our in-house teams.
It is a pleasure to engage the services of a professional, dedicated and fun company that delivers so completely on its promise to 'Unlock the past'.
I look forward to engaging you again whenever possible.'
Colleen Coles - Events and Exhibitions Officer, Cressing Temple Barns:
'May I, on behalf of Cressing Temple, thank Discovering Medieval for the wonderful day that they gave our visitors at our historical activity day in August. We had nearly 450 children pass through and without exception they all enjoyed the living history experience that Discovering Medieval gave them. Everyone learnt a lot and went home having had a thoroughly enjoyable day. We look forward to meeting your group on future occasions. Many thanks.'
Emily Burns - Event Organiser, English Heritage Festival of History:
'We were delighted to have Discovering Medieval performing at the Festival of History this year. They provided hours of fun for audiences of all ages. They were both educational and entertaining and provided lots of hands-on activities for children to enjoy. We would love to have them back next year!'
Bodiam Castle - National Trust:
An accomplished and professional group of re-enactors who engage, challenge and entertain the children in a memorable way. We have been very pleased with their performance.
(If you do not wish to hire a group to come in to your school such as Discovering Medieval and would prefer to take your students to a historic site, we recommend Bodiam Castle).
Discovering Medieval also won third prize in Herstmonceux medieval festival living history competition 2005. Considering our numbers and that it's our first year of entering we're very proud of this achievement!
|
