Bedford Modern Junior School was delighted to welcome back Charlie Lupton (www.makeyourownhistory.co.uk/) on Wednesday 25 January.

Charlie is no stranger to Bedford Modern Junior School having presented his Build a Tudor House workshop for BMS pupils over the last couple of years. On this occasion, however, Charlie conducted his Egyptian Pyramid workshop that he launched in November 2011.

"My Make Your Own History Workshops include Roman Catapults, Tudor Houses, Viking Longships, Egyptian Pyramids and Spitfires," said Charlie.

"I love visiting Bedford Modern Junior School and always receive a very warm welcome. The pupils are all very good and my hidden agenda is that there's a wider element to my interactive workshops that involves co-operation and team-building skills.

"If just one pupil embarks on a career in design, building or architecture as a result of one of my workshops then the exercise will have produced long-lasting success and benefit", said Charlie.

During the Egyptian Pyramid workshop the children were involved in building the pyramid, using a sledge to move the building blocks, diemboweling a body and placing the innards into canopic jars, using chisels to carve hieroglyphics into rock and making papyrus the Egyptian way.

By the end of the day, the pupils had constructed a 3m x 3m Egyptian Pyramid with a height of 2.4m at the capstone. The pyramid consisted of 200 blocks of 'stone' which is roughly equivalent to the number of real stone blocks the Ancient Egyptians fitted into place each day.

One of the delights for the pupils was that the pyramid contained a secret entrance and passageway that led to the burial chamber deep within the pyramid and some of the smaller pupils were able to crawl through the passageway.

The Ancient Egyptians built pyramids as tombs for pharaohs and their queens and there are about 80 pyramids known today. The word pyramid comes from the Greek word 'pyramis' which means 'wheat cake' because they reminded the Greeks of wheat cakes that were pointy-topped.

Year 3 pupil Grace Brady said: "I didn't realise how hard it would have been for the Egyptians to build pyramids."

"Charlie Lupton was very kind and patient and his Egyptian Pyramid workshop was fun and an interesting way to learn about history," said Charlotte Clancy.

Jack Graham, another Year 3 pupil added: "I enjoyed carving hieroglyphics into rock with a chisel and hammer but, for me, the best part was seeing the last block going in and the pyramid completed."

More photographs are available in the Gallery section at: http://www.bedmod.co.uk/gallery/226