Year 6 pupils have really enjoyed discovering what it was like to live in Wales during World War Two and how everyone helped in the ‘war effort’ in one way or another. 

One of the highlights of our term was creating our own Blitz newspaper. We worked in groups to research and write articles about the impact of the Blitz on Newport and other parts of the UK. We learned about the courage and resilience of the people during this difficult time and how they came together to support one another.

As part of our topic, we also experienced what it was like to be evacuated on a steam train. We dressed up in clothes from the 1940s and carried our ration bags as we made our way to the station. We imagined what it would have been like to leave our families and homes behind and travel to a new and unfamiliar place. Year 6’s WW2 Evacuation trip – https://vimeo.com/923086927?share=copy

In our cooking suite, we got to experience what it was like to cook with rationed ingredients. We learned about the scarcity of food during the war and how people had to make do with what they had. We made dishes such as vegetable soup, eggless sponge and potato and cheese dumplings using only the ingredients that were available during the war.

In computing, we learnt how to code secret messages using microbits. We learned about the vital role that communication played during the war and how messages needed to be kept secret to avoid being intercepted by the enemy. We created our own codes and messages using microbits and had great fun trying to decipher each other’s codes.

We also discovered how important the roles of women were during the war and created job adverts to help recruit women to fulfil the following roles: mechanics, engineers, munitions workers, air raid wardens, bus and fire engine drivers. We were amazed to learn about the bravery and determination of women who served as pilots, nurses, and spies.

The children participated in a class debate about whether it was a good idea to evacuate children during World War 2. Whilst the overall outcome was that it was a good idea for their safety, the discussion highlighted the fact that not everyone had a good experience when they were evacuated.

Following on from this we wrote an evacuee letter, imagining what it would have been like to leave our homes and families behind and travel to a new place. We learned about the emotions and fears that evacuees would have felt and tried to capture these in our letters.

Finally we began our class podcasts and even managed to get a group from each class to complete theirs. We will be continuing with our podcasts in the summer term.

Overall, we had an incredible term learning about World War II. We gained a deeper understanding of the challenges and sacrifices that people made during this time, and we developed a greater appreciation for the courage and resilience of those who lived through it.

As part of STEM children took part in practical investigations involving ‘Training like a soldier’. They measured their heart rate after doing exercises such as star jumps, burpees and press ups and applied their Numeracy skills to calculate the average from a set of data. Following on from that we delved into studying the ‘Journey of a blood cell’.

P.C. Donne, our police liaison officer, visited Year 6 to talk to the children about the many roles within the police force and also ran a zoom meeting where he talked to the children about keeping safe online. We have more workshops planned for the children in the Summer term. 

What an incredibly busy half term we have had. We are racing ahead to our final term with Year Six and we cannot wait to make it a memorable and special one!