Everyone had made paper houses which replicated what houses would have looked like in September 1666. These were stapled to a pallet out in the playground.  Mrs Gazzelloni set the scene by asking everyone to put their time travel hats on and travel back to London in September 1666.  She explained that in those days, houses were made from wood with thatched roofs and that the streets were very narrow.  It had been a long hot summer and everything was very dry.  Thomas Farrinor, baker to King Charles II, had an open fire and his maid forgot to put the fire out one evening.  A tiny spark leapt out which was to be the beginning of the Great Fire.
We used a lighter to set the paper bakery alight and show the children how quickly the fire would have spread.  We talked about how we might have felt if we had been around then.  Back in the classroom, children were hungry to find out more about the Great Fire, and we were pleased to let them know that next week would be packed full of information.