Part of the joy of teaching medieval history is the chance for children to see a real source in use, in the form of the Bayeux tapestry. To introduce it this year, I got the children to create their own tapestry through drama before looking at the original.

We studied the events leading up to the Battle of Hastings, and the battle itself, before dividing the class into six groups. Each group created its own freeze-frame image, trying to represent a key event, until we eventually had 12 images to tell the whole story.

For the following lesson, children brought armour, weapons, helmets, and even Saxon garb, and we photographed each freeze-frame in sequence.

The 12 photographs make a fantastic display alongside the real tapestry photographs, and the children start to examine the problems of using such simple sources by considering the various interpretations of their own freeze-frames first

Ideal for KS3 history - Medieval Realms study (Britain 1066-1500) Michael Tidd teaches at Thomas A Becket middle school, Worthing