On Tuesday, Year 5 embarked on a very exciting, interactive and engaging trip to the Museum of Lancashire in Preston. The museum itself is closed to the public so Year 5 were very lucky to have exclusive access and see some of the interesting exhibits including real artefacts from WW2 such as an air raid siren, an Anderson shelter and some aerial photographs taken during the War itself.
Children experienced 4 separate workshops throughout our morning at the museum. One workshop was focused on planning the D-Day landings. This involved children nominating a Corporal (who gave all the orders) and a Lance Corporal (who passed on the orders from the Corporal). Captain Black gave the children some time to put their plan together and explained how the landings worked. Children learnt about the number of men, the number of guns and the importance of communication.
The second workshop focused on espionage. Children were enrolled into the SOE. They were taught the importance of spies and collecting evidence 'undercover' and how vital this role was within the war. They were exposed to some training and some children were given new identities and covers. They had to learn their cover identity inside out and were tested on this at a check-point. The instructor explained that if children (much like real life spies back in WW2) got an element of their cover wrong or couldn't answer a question confidently and raised suspicion, they would be denied access past a checkpoint, possibly arrested (or worse!). Thankfully, all the children passed with flying colours and would make EXCELLENT spies. They also looked incredible in their costumes and were great sports!
The third workshop focused on aerial photographs. Children were shown photographs taken from the sky during WW2 and had to try and decipher what was being shown and whether or not it would need military action. They were even shown the photograph which helped England spot and sink the German Bismarck in May 1941.
The fourth and final workshop was all about codebreaking. Children had to sign the Secrets Act and were privy to some coded messages which they had to decipher using the Morse Code branching diagram. This was REALLY tricky and required excellent listening skills. Children were taught how important this role was during the War and how crucial being able to send coded messages to one another was, because ''the walls had ears.''
Year 5 had a fantastic morning at the Museum of Lancashire and behaved beautifully whilst on the trip too!
