Commendations

"Wow! UKS2 had a brilliant day. From beginning to end the children were enthralled and produced some imaginative pieces of work. Thank you." [Mrs Parkes, Teacher, Rawdon Littlemoor Primary School]

"What a fantastic day. The children have been captivated by your stories - how do you remember it all? The children have been engaged all day and produced a wide variety of work. I am really looking forward to their stories - you have fired their imaginations." [Mrs C. Otto, Teacher, Whitecliffe Primary School]

"A fabulous day for staff and children! It has provided a great stimuli for writing for children of all age groups." [Jade Gartside, Teacher, Ingram Road Primary School]

"A great inspiration for our work in class, and across the whole school. Burwash caught their imagination and certainly got them thinking. Many thanks for a great day." [Mrs Baxter, Teacher, St Walburga's Catholic Primary School, Shipley]

"A fantastically organised and stimulating day, turning the fictional into the very eal." [Katherine Smith, Teacher, Greenmount Primary School, Beeston]

"I thought he totally captured the children's imagination." [Helen Benson, Teaching Assistant, Whitecliffe Primary School]

Captain Burwash, Pirate

For the whole of KS2 &/or KS1

The captain is an early 18th century pirate who tells exciting tales about Sea Rovers, Buccaneers and Privateers. The very sight and sound of him, armed to the teeth and swaggering about, fascinates children who often can't believe that a 'real' pirate has come to visit! He sets up very motivated literacy work, which (as I am a historian) is built around a portrayal of historical piracy, using historical accounts rather than more modern, fictional stories and films.

Ready to Board!


The day can be formatted to allow work with several classes - the whole junior school, or the infants, or (if your school is not too large) the entire school. If I do work with larger numbers then there are two assemblies, one at the start and one at the end of the day, and in between there are story-telling sessions with each group (either a year group or a class). I ask the children to do several literacy/artwork tasks for me, which they can work on whenever I am storytelling with the other groups and show to everyone at the plenary assembly. The character also works very well with one class for a full day, allowing me to do most of what is described below and more.


Session Format for Key Stage 2

Introduction

We start with an assembly (45 minutes approx.) for all the children in which I introduce myself to everyone, and ask what they know of pirates. This leads to some banter and demonstration. I then ask the children if they will do some work for me, for I am about to set off 'cruising on the account' and need a crew, ship's articles, a sea shanty to sing, a new jolly roger, tall tales of pirates to while away the hours at sea, etc. These tasks give the children some pirate work to do for the sessions they are not with me.

Literacy Tasks

The teachers decide which tasks they want their classes to work on while I am telling stories to the other classes. You could perhaps choose different tasks for each class to add to the variety in the plenary assembly. Or a class could do more than one task - there's certainly plenty to keep an active group busy on literacy and art work.
A New Jolly Roger!
I am not so sure my own skull and cross bones flag is sufficiently frightening to subdue my prey, so (after describing some other pirates' flags) I ask the children to design a new one for me - a terrifying image to scare my prey.
Advertisement for a crew
I need pirates, so I want posters to go around the port in typpling houses, taverns and inns. These must persuade sailors to join the cruise, promising rewards and specifying what kind of men I want. During the assembly I give ideas about what might be included in this advertisement.
Ship's Articles (Rules for Pirate Behaviour)
My crew need to sign their names to these, and then obey them on the journey. They must cover such things as behaviour aboard ship, punishments, rewards, compensations for injuries, and so on (just like historical pirate articles).
Tales of Daring Do
What better to entertain the crew with than tales of piratical deeds? They might emulate such stories, learn a little of pirate tricks, fight more bravely for their captain.
A Ballad
A stirring ditty to sing as we work the ship, or when carousing and passing the time off watch. If the children write it as a poem we can come up with a tune for it later (or they might choose to set it to the tune of "What shall we do with a Drunken Sailor", so that they can indeed sing it at the plenary!)
A Wanted Poster!
I might ask for a sketch of me, perhaps to go with the advertisement. During the group sessions with me, I could pose for a few minutes to allow the children to make a start on this. They can then complete it later. The teacher can leave this task as it is, or could add an extra element by turning it into a wanted poster - so that the Royal Navy and the East India Company will know who to look out for! During the plenary I can be shocked by this, but then brush it off with swaggering bravado and say that I would not be a proper pirate if there weren't such a thing as a wanted poster about me!

Storytelling Sessions

I meet each group individually - year groups or classes, depending on your numbers - and tell them lots of short tales about famous pirates - Morgan, L'Ollonois, Blackbeard etc. I also answer all their questions, and talk more about ships, weapons, navigation, diseases, capturing prizes and boarding prizes, etc. This involves demonstration of more of the things I have brought with me. If it's good weather, or the school hall is free, and the session is long enough, I can take a class or two out to re-enact one of Henry Morgan's exploits.

Plenary Assembly

We gather again at the end of the day so that the teachers can choose examples of good work to be shown or read out to everyone at end of day. Then I bid everyone farewell and take my leave!

Note: If you want to have a 'pirate dressing up day' some schools have decided to do it after my visit, thinking the children's excitement levels might get a bit too high if they were dressed (and armed) whilst a pirate was visiting! But many schools I have worked with have dressed up on the day and everything went fine.


Thank you cards from Year 1 children

Visits to schools all over Yorkshire and nearby

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