Hadrian’s Wall Virtual Focus Day

FREE

Times - 9.30am - 12noon 

Sessions are designed for KS2 students in school, at home and other settings.  

You may choose to sign your group up for all sessions or a selection across all three dates.  

Joining information and additional resources will be circulated closer to the date. 

Home learners and children not in a school setting are also welcome to take part. 

Please note that for Safeguarding, adults not accompanying a participating child will not be permitted into any of these sessions. 

Join Hadrian’s Wall Learning and Engagement Forum* for a day of virtual activities themed around Hadrian’s Wall.  

Take part in live workshops and discover more about the various sites across the Wall. Each workshop will include downloadable resources to use during the session.  

Tuesday 25 November 2025:

9.30am - 10am –  Counting on Hadrian's Wall with Richard Marshall from Newcastle University 

How did the Romans do maths? Is everything your teachers tell you about Roman numerals wrong? In this interactive session based on cutting edge research at the University of Newcastle, we’ll find out how the Romans counted and calculated using real ancient textbooks. On the way, we’ll also be helping out the Emperor Hadrian. Will his thirst for wall-building bankrupt Rome?

10.10am - 10.40am -  Gods and Goddesses along the Wall with Steph Holton from the Open University 

In this session we will meet some of the ancient gods and goddesses worshipped along Hadrian’s Wall. Using different types of evidence - including inscriptions, statues, and even coins – we will find out more about the gods brought to Britain by the Romans as well as the gods they found here, and learn how to identify them in the wild!

This session is a repeat and updated session from the 2024 focus day, ''The children thoroughly enjoyed learning about the gods, goddess and Hadrian's wall.'' 

10.50am - 11.20am - Nick Henderson - information to come

11.30am - 12noon - Hadrian’s Wall 180 - a time travel experience with Richard from Time Machine Designs

This session will take you on a journey along Hadrian’s Wall as it is thought to have appeared in the year 180CE. Time Machine Designs has created the world’s first complete reconstruction of the Hadrian’s Wall system using historical and archaeological research, 3D modelling software and Microsoft’s Flight Simulator game.  By the end of the session you will have seen Hadrian’s Wall from the air and how it fitted into the landscape, learned about its turrets, milecastles, forts, villages and harbours and seen whose houses would have been demolished by the Romans! 

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Wednesday 26 November 2025

9.30am - 10am – Climate vs Archaeology: A Battle for the Past with the Vindolanda Trust

In this session, you will become archaeology detectives as you put climate change under the microscope. In this interactive session, using the different pieces of evidence that archaeologists have excavated at Roman Vindolanda and Magna Forts, we will investigate the life of people living along Hadrian's Wall 2,000 years ago. But what would happen if none of this evidence was available to us? By the end of the session, we will understand how climate change is impacting buried archaeology to understand what we might lose in the future.

Due to it's success this is a repeat session from our 2024 event. 

10.10am - 10.40am  -  Roots along Hadrian's Wall with Laura from Classics for All 

Why do so many towns and cities end in -caster and -chester? What is the CR in King Charles' monogram? What does Hadrian's Wall have to do with the English language? Find out how inscriptions left by soldiers along Hadrian's Wall can boost your students' literacy skills and recognition of word roots. This interactive session will gently introduce KS2 students to English etymology and morphology, unlocking the Latin roots of hundreds of English words and boosting their linguistic skill set.

10.50am - 11.20am - Dark Skies Through Roman Eyes with Northumberland National Park 

Northumberland National Park is home to the darkest skies in England – officially the best place to see stars, planets, meteor showers, and the northern lights. But what did the Romans see when they looked up at the night sky? In this interactive session, pupils will find out how important the stars and planets were to the Romans, and how their special connection to the night sky has influenced modern day astronomers. 

This session is a repeat and updated session from our 2023 focus day.

11.30am - 12noon– Roman life at the opposite ends of Roman Britain with Helen from English Heritage 
Find out more about the site of the Roman invasion of Britain at Richborough, which saw the prime of Roman occupation and compare it with one of the largest forts on the Northern edge of the empire. Explore who lived there, what did they do and what was life like for them through an interactive session and decide where would you have preferred to be.

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Thursday 27 November 2025

9.30am - 10am – Colour by Science: What can the scientific archaeology teach us about Hadrian’s Wall?  with Jo and Andrew from the Great North Museum: Hancock

Did you know that archaeologists use science as well as history skills? Find out how scientific techniques can be used to learn about an object's history. Compare Hadrian's Wall to another Roman wall (did you know there were others?!) and use your new-found skills to decide how much we can learn about Hadrian's Wall from another Roman wall. 

This session is a repeat and updated session from 2024 focus day, ''I enjoyed learning about the different colours of Roman Britain''

10.10am - 10.40am  - Bathing at the Frontier with Susan and Kirsty from Segedunum Roman Fort 

Bathhouses were an important part of Roman Identity and were present throughout the Roman Empire, even at Hadrian’s Wall.  Join us at Segedunum, Hadrian’s Walls most easterly fort to look at the remains we have here, what bathhouses were like, and why they were such an important part of Roman Life! 

10.50am - 11.20am - Rollin’ with the Romans: Entertainment on The Wall with Liana from Tullie

They liked to battle, bathe and build… but what did the Roman soldiers on the wall do for fun? Join Tullie (and a very jolly Roman Soldier) for an exciting time-travelling adventure, using artefacts from our collections (and some silliness!) to learn about thedifferent ways the Romans entertained themselves. During this interactive session your class will share ideas in the chat, answer polls, meet some lively characters, act along, examine real artefacts, and finally get their pencils out for some creative worksheet fun! 

This session is a repeat and updated session from 2024 focus day, ''Rolling with the Romans was very interactive and child friendly.''

11.30am - 12noon – Hadrian's Wall - We have your back with Helen and Mark from Binchester Roman Fort, supported by Equistry re-enactment group.

Binchester Roman Fort was built in County Durham around 75AD and was one of the largest Roman Forts in the whole of northern Britain. The Fort housed 2000 soldiers, including a cavalry regiment of 600 horses.

Prior to Hadrian’s Wall, Binchester was a key element in the conquest and overall defence strategy of the northern frontier.  Once the Wall was established, whilst not directly on Hadrian’s Wall itself, it played a major support role to the Wall – it was crucial for communications, troop movement and supply lines.

By watching several video clips of re-enactors, you can learn about what life was like for the cavalry soldiers and auxiliary soldiers living at Binchester.  Find out about the roles they played in supporting Hadrian’s Wall and protecting Dere street, the main road north from York towards Hadrian’s Wall and beyond.

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 Please note that this Virtual Hadrian’s Wall Day is open for multiple schools and/or home learners to book. We will instruct all participants to turn cameras and microphones off during the sessions. 

*Hadrian's Wall Learning and Engagement Forum are a group of museum and heritage education and outreach professionals based on the sites found across Hadrian's Wall.