Last Friday Year 7 took a day trip to Bath, where they explored the Roman Baths Museum there with the Classics department. After an early rise and a long coach journey, we split into our Latin sets and explored the ancient site of Aquae Sulis. During the day, pupils got the chance to descend beneath street level and wander around the site of ancient Aquae Sulis to learn all about Roman bathing and social practices. The group also took part in a workshop where we handled real Roman artefacts excavated in Bath and tried to decide whether Bath was just a normal Roman town. One highlight was trying to figure out the uses of a small toolkit including eyebrow pluckers, nail cleaners, and earwax spoons.

This week the Latin teaching staff thoroughly enjoyed listening to the highlights of the trip from our Year 7 pupils. These included: the gift shop and the coach ride, but also the chance to visit “the best museum ever” and to feel the heat of the hot spring as it fed into the Great Bath in the centre of the complex. If you know any of the Year 7s, do make sure to ask them about how the Romans kept themselves clean, and why the water in the baths looks so green today.

Dr Hayes, Head of Classics