Let’s travel back 5000 years to Ancient Egypt, cruising along the Nile and entering a world of mysteries, curses and mummies.

This half term, we are going to learn first-hand about the gruesome, yet fascinating, process of mummification. We’ll learn all about Howard Carter’s famous discovery and use different sources to research Tutankhamun’s tomb. We’ll also consider whether it was right to open Tutankhamun’s tomb, or whether it should have been left as it was. Our work will inspire us to write some exciting Egyptian mystery stories and non-fiction books and the internet will provide us with information to make fact files. We’ll draw Egyptian artefacts in detail, focusing on symbols and design features. Studying historical sources will help us learn more about the Pharaohs, the Egyptian gods and ancient religious beliefs. We’ll find out about the food that was eaten at the time and create our own cartouches out of clay including our hieroglyphic names!

Help your child prepare for their project
It’s amazing that a civilisation from 5000 years ago still influences the way we live today, from mathematics to bowling! Why not try a variety of fruits for dessert that the ancient Egyptians would buy from their local market? You could taste juicy cantaloupes, sweet dates or flavoursome plums. You could also visit your local library to learn about the amazing world of Ancient Egypt. Alternatively, use online maps to look at famous Egyptian landmarks and track the course of the Nile.

Our class text is called Secrets of a Sun King by Emma Carroll - it is a fantastic mystery story all about an adventure to the tomb of Tutankhamun! If you would like your child to have a copy in school to read then please feel free to send them in with one, it is available on amazon and in various bookshops!