Thank you to Charlotte, Ysa and Seren for their write up of Year 6's learning about World War II this term which culminated in a visit to Steam - The Museum of the Great Western Railway. This trip is always a popular highlight to the Autumn Term and last week's visit didn't dissapoint!
Charlotte:
'This Autumn Term, Year 6 have been looking at World War II in History, English and even DT. On the 10th October, we went to Steam and it was awesome - you will find out more in the paragraphs below! We have also been reading Goodnight Mr Tom as our Guided Reading book this term. If you have not read it, I would definitely recommend it to you. In DT we are making Anderson shelters in groups and I am so excited - we have already started cutting our boxes and the classes are full of resouces that people have brought in for it!'
Ysa:
'Before World War II, women had to give up their jobs if they married. This all changed during the war as women became an important part of the workforce. At Steam, we saw some good examples of what it might have been like during the war as a family. We enjoyed a range of different activities to explore what women would have done and how they might have felt. When the war began, men were sent off to fight, so woman at home were needed to help the war effort and they helped in the factories to make planes and bombs and they also helped out in the fields by supporting farming. We learnt some men could not join the forces, so they joined the Home Guard. At Steam we also enjoyed looking at a range of posters which were hung up to lighten people’s mood and to encourage them to help out and to give information about the war efforts.'
Seren:
'At Steam we experienced life as an evacuee. We learnt all about what the evacuees would have been able to take. This included a spare set of clothes, a pair of pyjamas and a small personal belonging, so not much at all! We also learnt about different gas masks for different aged children; a baby would have had something that they lay down inside and their mother would have to pump air in. We acted out waving goodbye to our homes and got on the train - it was very squashed and rather uncomfortable. When we got off, we had to be on our best behaviour so we would be picked to go and live with someone. There was a policeman, a farmer, a lady who owned a flower shop and the wife of the owner of the pub.
Lastly, we looked at the air raid shelter. When we heard the siren, it was very loud and the ARP warden had to count us in as there was a limit on who could fit in the shelter. Luckily we all fitted! It was a very tight squash inside but there were a lot of things to keep us occupied such as cards and books. We also enjoyed looking at the posters on the walls and identifying the different model planes hanging from the ceiling. It took quite a while for the all-clear siren to sound and even then, it took some time to make sure it was safe. When we came out, the scene was ok, whereas it was likely that, during the war, you would have come out to face a horrible sight.
We had a really amazing experience, all thanks to the Steam Team!'