Some of us were nervous; others excited and relieved as we arrive with our classmates at Winchester Railway Station.
We had been evacuated from Southampton to (hopefully) be placed with host families in the countryside surrounding Sparsholt Church of England Primary School.
We couldn’t wait to see cows, pigs and sheep for the first time but were not looking forward to the farmyard smells. Some of us didn’t even know what rabbits were and were horrified that we had to eat rabbit stew.
READ MORE: Sparsholt Primary School perform outdoor show The Wind in the Willows
As part of our local history study unit, Oak Class took part in a brilliant, hands-on World War II day. Our teacher, Mrs Gwilliam, and Tricia from “Creative History” used ‘Teacher in Role’ so that we were immersed in life on the home front in the 1940s.
We learnt so much by travelling back in time and dressing up as evacuees. As World War II historians we handled genuine Second World War artefacts which we found in a suitcase and experienced an air-raid and created shelters. Training as air-raid precaution officers included learning about basic first-aid.
We also puzzled over how we could make a menu for a week using World War II rations and some of us even tasted ‘Spam’ for the first time. We enjoyed barley sugar and sherbet lemons as part of our sweet rations.
Written by Year 6 World War II reporters
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