In our class text ' The Egyptian Cat and the Time Travelling Cat' the main character 'plays truant' from school and instead goes to find his missing cat.  We thought about the possible consequences of this risky behaviour.

We talked about the reaction of the police in the story and discussed whether they would have been more concerned if a younger child had gone missing from school.

We about discussed risks and responsibilities and that with increasing independence comes greater responsibility for self and others. 

We discussed at what age children could be responsible  to go to places on their own. The grids below show some examples of our thoughts.  

In class we talked about the difference between a risk a hazard and a danger.
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In our Mantle commission, we were contacted by the director of the new Grand Egyptian Museum. The director asked for our help to make the museum safe. The  museum needed to produce a risk assessment and to make the building safe before the official opening. 

Our expert Morda health and safety team worked together to assess possible risks ( see the still pictures of potential dangers that could occur) Then as a team they wrote a risk assessment.  

During Lockdown the Andes class have been doing some fantastic work on Ancient Egypt both in class and at hoe. We have had daily live Teams lessons and children have produced some great work . Here's a sample from our Teams page : ) 

​Dear Diary ,  
                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Part 1Today I returned to the tomb with my friend and colleague Lord Carnarvan. We were so eager to see what we had found. We descended down into the passage and I was so eager to go in nut the  Egyptian  rules  said  no  we  have  to  wait  to  wait  until  tomorrow  for  an inspector  before entering the tomb. My  heart  was  pumping  as  fast  as  a  steam  engine.  As  I  peered  through  the  small  hole,  I  felt afraid  and  very  lucky.  I  saw  shimmering  , glistening  objects  all  around  the  tomb.  We  decided  to head to my house for the night. I felt so upset that we could not go in there tonight and from the quick glance    I really, really wanted to.

Dear Diary,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Lord Carnarvon and I sneaked out of my house to go to the tomb , we stepped inside the tomb without the inspector and went through the main door, went down some steep, wide steps that creaked when we stepped on them. When we entered one room, we opened another door and the views blinded our eyes.

The rooms were full of golden glistening treasure, everywhere we looked there was statues , gold jewellery , Tutankhamun’s mummy and lots of art paintings on the walls .It was an amazing experience. Our eyes open widely and surprisingly we both looked at each other. The mummy’s body was inside a solid , shiny gold coffin that was placed in between two other painted coffins, with beautiful art work. As we stepped closer to the tombs, we saw the beautiful jewellery with a pharaoh inside the coffins. They looked beautiful and pretty. They were made of solid gold and precious stones that shone when the light was glistening on it through the door way gaps
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Lord Carnarvon and myself found it very interesting inside the tomb. It was a beautiful sight inside. It was also interesting and looks amazing. We had spent hours inside the tomb exploring around and enjoying the surroundings and objects around the tomb. Exploring the worldly building that was colourful and unreal. We quickly ran outside when we had notice we had been in there for a while as we did not want to get caught by the inspector being outside. The midnight sky was getting lighter, the shiny stars we starting to disappear from the outside world.       
 
In role diary by Maizie Sharman

What life was like for the Ancient Egyptians?
 
 Food -fresh bread , garlic and grapes they grew there own fruit and vegetables most important they grew wheat. They use clay ovens to cook their food. They drink beer made from barley. Fresh water was hard to find. Made wine from grapes and pomegranates and plums.. Clothes -light clothing was worn made from linen . richer people had nicer material. Men wore a wrap around skirt tied with a belt. Women wore a long wrap around dress . Children didn’t wear clothes until they were 6 years old . People often went barefoot.

​Jewellery -Men and women wore jewellery they wore rings, earrings, bracelets, neck collars and pendants. . Make up men and women also worse make up the main type was black and green eye shadow.

Men-Rich men worked all day , rich boys were taught to read and write and had lots of time to play , poor men mostly worked as farmers.
Women-Rich women could own land and run businesses , girls could get married at the age of 12 , girls and women played lots of music , poor women stayed at home.. Jobs-most people were farmers.

Homes average family lived in a sun baked mud home , usually one floor and very small, had little furniture , had flat roofs to sleep on when to hot inside.. Rich -Homes were made from brick and wood , and also had lots of rooms
 
By Harry Griffiths 

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE RIVER NILE 
 
 
 Why was the River Nile so important? Because they didn’t have any that much rain and they grow crops and the they depend on the Nile. 

• What  technology did the Ancient Egyptians develop to lift water from the Nile into their fields?   they used a shaduf to transport the water from the River to the farm. 

  

• How were shadufs used? The antient Egyptians tried to trap as much flood water as possible, so they did not have to constantly get water from the river.....to lift the water from the central they used a shaduf. A shaduf is a large pole balanced on a crossbeam, a rope and the bucket on one end and a heavy counter wait at the other. 

   

• Why do you think the River Nile was so important to Ancient Egyptian life? If there was no Nile they would be dead. 

 

• What countries does the River Nile runs through today? It starts at the mountains of Tanesia then the desert land of Egypt  

 

• What are the positive and negative things about living so close to the River Nile? You can wash your animals get water faster and get your crops washed. 

    

• Who was the Ancient Egyptian god of the River Nile? HAPI 

 

• How do farmer use the Nile in modern Egypt today to help them irrigate the land? They now still use shadufs  as well as electric pumps.

 

• How does the Nile help feed the growing population of Egypt ?  they get water to drink clean food which can also help to make more food 

 

• Why is it so important to protect this natural resource?  there wouldn't be farms today if the River Nile was gone 

 
 By Lola Jenks 

​Building the Pyramids By Jack Miller
 
It is a thought that aliens built the great pyramids of Giza because they don't believe humans can make such an achievement in their lives. This piece of writing will explain how the great pyramids of Khufu were built. 
 
Herodotus, the Greek historian, wrote that 100,000  strong fit men were working on this structure. The workers that were really good at what they did got promoted to a better and more hard working role like moving and placing the stone blocks on the pyramid or being in charge of controlling where the blocks and how the blocks were placed. More than 2,300,000 limestone and granite blocks are on the great pyramid of Giza. The average weight of a block is 2.3 metric tons (2.5 tons). It took about 20 years to build the great pyramid. The pyramid builders lived in little straw and papyrus huts with a fire and a bench to sit and sleep. They travelled by boats and also lived near the Nile. After they have done all their hard work they will be rewarded with wine and beer and very little wage. 
 
Designing the pyramid took ages they had to smoothen out the rock and making designs on the rock. They mainly used deigns inside the pyramid for the tomb illustrations on the wall of the King and hieroglyphics  saying quotes and illustrations. The tomb had a lot of drawings and pictures of Khufu. 

Quarrying the stone was very hard, carrying the stone to the pyramid required very  strong men to pull the rock on the carts with the not as good men pouring water in front of the cart so it runs smoothly across the hard hot ground and because the ground was clay so the water 
 stays on top of the ground. They mined the limestone and granite stone to put on the carts. 

Building the pyramid was the toughest bit because they had to fill in the entire thing and then go to the second layer and then the 3rd and so on until they got to the top where they had to carve a small pyramid shape and put it on the top to finish the pyramid. They used a tool to find a straight line for the blocks. They had to make sure the corners were the same all the way up to the top otherwise it will not be symmetrical and diagonal. 
 
The Pharaoh's liked to have big and fancy pyramids because they were powerful and the pyramid would show their greatness.  The Pharaohs would have their tombs inside the pyramids and keep all their gold and precious jewels in it. 
 
Overall it took a long time to build a fantastic pyramid for a Pharaoh, with a lot of strong men working hard on it.  I think the pyramids are very big and help us when studying history.  

Making a Mummy 

​To make a Mummy you must wash the wash the body. Then you need to start preparing the body to make the organs out; you get a long metal stick to poke up their nose to take out the brain, next you need to cut a hole in the side of the body to remove its organs. The organs go inside some canopic jars.
There are 4 canopic jars for the organs, each jar has a different god; Hapy has the head of a baboon and he looks after the lungs. Inset has a human head and he holds liver. Qebehsenuf has a falcon head and holds the intestines. Duamutef has a head of a jackal who holds the stomach.
The person preparing the body wears a special mask called a death mask, the body is filled with straw and dried rags to keep the body in the right shape the body is now covered and filled with special salt called Natron, which dries it out. The drying process takes about 40 days. Once the body is dry, they clean out the salt and the body is cleaned with wine and spices.
Resin is used to stick the hole back together so that bad spirits couldn’t get into the body. The body is covered in linen bandages which makes it look like a mummy. A Mask is put on the face, then the the body is put into a casket and then a sarcophagus.  The body is then ready for the afterlife.
 
By Isaac Jermain Jones 

What happens to a mummy. 

This explanation is designed to shock and gross you out, as it all about Ancient Egyptians mummies. How they believed in afterlife and follow to that world. The best way they preserve their bodies and hearts. 
This process is called mummification. The first main job is to take the body to the place of purification, which is a tent by west side of the river Nile. Once the body is set up, they wash the body with wine or water from the river Nile. Now is the messy part they have a long stick with a hook on the end which they place up your nose and scramble your brain around. They believe the brain is not that important as they believed you had thoughts with your heart. Once all brained removed, they slice you open on the left side of your body and remove your liver then place liver inside the canopic jar.

Next will be your stomach which they place in Demotes canopic jar. Lungs get removed and placed in Happy canoic jar. And finally, your intestine goes in the Qebehsenuf jar. They remove your heart but dry it out as you need it for the travel to after life once , they place back in body. They fill the body up with dried grass, straw or rags to help keep the shape of your body. They dry out the body with salt which they call natron, every day they replace the natron till you are all dried up, can take 40 days. After the natron has worked, they wash you in wine and spices to make you smell all lovely. They found a resin they collect from trees they use to close up the wound on the side of your body. An amulet or an eye is placed over the wounded to keep evil away. Next, they wrap you in linen then a resin layer and maybe an amulet placed in-between layers to protect body. They have a mask to place over your face and put you in a casket. Then the casket is put in a sarcophagus which is covered in hydrographic and pictures which helps the spirt move on to the next world. 
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I believe they was doing what they strongly believed in with preparing their bodies for after life, they followed their hearts. That a whole debate as what is stronger head or heart. The Egyptians worked hard to respect the dead and still to this day it is all still respected. The question Is do u believe in afterlife? Would you like to be a mummy? 
 
By Charlie Beaton
 
 

Read our wonderful Nile poems.

In the Autumn term as part of our Victorian Local study Mantle we helped Charles Dickens with his research for ' A Christmas Carol'
Our version of the story is shown below...warning some scary ghosts in these videos!!!