On Tuesday 11th September, year 5 evacuated to Nothe Fort. This was part of their topic on World War II.
All the children were asked to dress up in 1940s style clothes and they had made gas mask boxes and evacuation labels. We walked down and were met by John - the ARP Warden.
The selection of the evacuees was not very fair and children were chosen because they looked strong or because they could ride a bike. Some children were not chosen because they smelt funny or because they weren't clean...!
During the day, the children did five activities: Air Raids, schoolroom, kitchen and laundry, shopping and rations and Weymouth at War.
In the Air Raid activity they learnt about how to make your house safer and, when the air raid siren went off, they ran to an Anderson Shelter where they had to sit through an air raid - this was really scary. They also learnt how to put out a fire using a pump in a bucket.
In the schoolroom, the children had to write a postcard home telling their parents they were safe. They also practised writing with an ink pen.
In the kitchen, the children learnt how to wash clothes 1940s style using a washing dolly to move the clothes around and a posser to rinse them. They then had to put the clothes through the mangle to get the water out.
In Mrs. Arkwright's shop they learnt about pre-decimal money and rationing. They had to work out which coins to use to pay for their goods. Some items were rationed too so they had to have their ration books marked. The shop keepers then had to give them their change.
In the Weymouth at War exhibition, the children saw a model of a bombed out house. They learnt that incendiary bombs were fire bombs which burst into flames and could only be put out with sand.
Over all, it was an excellent day and the children learnt a lot of very important things. By the time we had walked back , there were 32 very tired children and 6 tired adults.
If you get the chance, we recommend you visit Nothe Fort for yourselves.