These are our requirements in an ideal world for a KS3 medieval life display, please let us know if any of these requirements are not possible for some reason and we will do our best to accommodate them:
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Book a suitable sized space to hold the display such as a school hall, gym or dining room. Please book it well in advance of the date and confirm you have the room booked, before returning your contract to us.
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Ensure that no other activities are taking place in the hall during the display, for 2 hours before the display commences and an hour and a half after it finishes. Make sure all film clubs, maintenance work, assemblies etc are moved or cancelled. This includes cancelling lunch time events and morning assemblies.
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Have a look at these guidelines of how we usually set up our displays in different spaces: Hall, gym, auditorium
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If possible book a space for the display that has convenient access to the outside so equipment can be unloaded easily. If possible a hall on the ground floor is preferable as stairs can be very awkward to negotiate and it will take much longer to load and unload. If it is not possible to avoid this, please inform us before hand. This way we can allow adequate time to set up and take down.
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Please supply sufficient number of chairs or benches for all the students to sit on and 6 reasonable sized tables for use in the display. If tables are not possible, then 12 exam desks are equally as good. We find providing seating for the students helps them concentrate better for the 2 hours and it is easier for us to define the different households that they will be in.
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Ensure that there are adequate teachers present during the entire display. One teacher per 30 students minimum, so 35 students would require at least 2 teachers. If we were left on our own at any point during the display we would have to suspend it until a teacher returned. It is therefore preferable to have 2 teachers present even for smaller displays in case anyone should need to be taken for first aid etc.
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Preferably at least one history teacher should be present during the display so they know what the children have experienced and they can then use this in the classroom afterwards.
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Any teachers present should give adequate discipline to the students where needed during a display as DM staff can not discipline your students.
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If possible ask the teachers present during the display to be involved in the display as guild masters and apothecaries as the students love it when teachers are involved. Information sheets on these will be provided on the date of the display.
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Make provision for somebody to be there to greet us 1 & a half to 2 hours before the display commences to let us in and show us where to go. Such as a caretaker or teacher. Please ensure whoever lets us in knows which hall we will be in. It will be impossible to move all our equipment on time once set up. Ensure that Discovering Medieval know which hall they will be in.
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Please allow at least 20 minutes in between displays for the display to be reset.
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Ensure that the students arrive promptly at the appointed start time or even earlier. Even a ten minute delay can mean we have to drop one subject from the display.
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Arrange somewhere suitable for us to park the van during the day.
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Brief the students well before the date of the display that they will be taking part in a history display on medieval life and a very rough idea of what they will be doing. If they arrive at a display unaware of what they are doing it can be confusing for them.
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Ensure that you return the completed contract promptly to ensure that your booking is secure. The booking will not be confirmed until we have the signed contract.
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Please ensure you have a cheque for the full amount owing to Discovering Medieval (made payable to Discovering Medieval) available on the first date of the display.
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If you are taking photos of the day, don't forget to get permission from parents to use the photos. If you could ask at the same time if it is ok for Discovering Medieval to use photos on our website it would be hugely appreciated. We regret but we do not allow filming of our displays although photographs are fine.
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Think about what the procedure will be should the fire alarm go off during the middle of a display. We do not wish to leave display items unattended so if possible usually wait near the fire exit in case it should be a real fire. If you wish us to exit the building altogether our insurance will become invalid and you will not be covered.
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On the day, please identify the nearest staff toilets to DM staff.
- Please note that we charge a cancellation fee if you cancel a booking after signing our contract. This will be 10% if more than 30 days before the first date of the display or 50% if 30 days or less prior to the first date of the display. This is because we may have had to turn away other work for the date you have booked and we may not be able to refill the date at such short notice.