WW2 and Coding Launch Day
What a brilliant day!! Today Class 6 fully embraced our start of term launch day to begin our new topic and SITE themes: World War 2 and Coding!
It was a slightly earlier start for Class 6, as they came into class (dressed for their new role as evacuees) to drop off their bags they were met by the declaration of War speech by Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. We then returned to the playground to say our final goodbyes to parents, get our evacuee tags and board the train to Cherry Tree Farm.
On the journey, we came across strange things like water in the middle of fields and huge dogs with dangling tummies. Upon arrival to our final destination, we were met by a billeting officer, who inspected the children for suitablity of where they could be housed based on gender, strength, health and cleanliness! Once settled in Cherry Tree Farm, we went over the rules including, most importantly, safety. We practised putting on our gas masks and taking for cover on the sound of the dreaded air siren. We were then put to work on the farm, digging up crops, weeding and clearing fallen leaves.
After a small break, we then proceeded to learn a war poem as a class and recite it from memory. Then it was time to hear from our loved ones back home, all children received a letter from home written by their parents. These letters were emotional, informative and at times highly entertaining! These fantastic letters then inspired us to write replies to our families at home telling them about our life in Cherry Tree Farm and answering all their questions about the mysteries of the countryside. This completed our morning full of enriching, fun learning.
In the afternoon, we focussed on the SITE elements of the day, introducing our new SITE project 'The Coding Project' where at the end of the half term children will be making their very own Morse Code machines. We launched this project by learning about and trying Semaphore coding (code with flags). We made our flags, then went out onto the playground to practise the codes, initially by spelling our name then completing a series of code-breaking challenges in pairs.
We ended the day with a sweet treat, some carrot fudge! This was a sweet typical Christmas sweet during the war: gelatine, grated carrot and orange essence! Yum! We all tried it, the children showed wonderful enthusiasm, which was impressive! We had mixed reviews on the fudge; some weren't fans and other brave souls had seconds. We discussed how citizens of the time had to be creative as sugar was in short supply.
To complete, we reflected on our SMSC question 'How did people in World War 2 protect themselves?' based on the learning of the day before being reunited with our parents! We cannot wait to learn more and more about our topic and SITE project as the term develops!
Posted by Miss Prankard on 5 November 2018
Tags: Class 6