This term Class Six visited Nature in Art Museum. We spent most of the day outside creating magical ‘sun prints’ using special paper. We then made some butterfly sculptures by twisting wire to create loops and then dipping it in a liquid resin which then set and created a stained glass effect. In the afternoon we toured the museum and met the artist in residence, Chris Sinden. He showed them how he creates his lino prints. A fabulous time was had by all.
Class Six ended their World War Two topic on a high just before half term, when they time travelled back to 1940 and were ‘evacuated’ to the countryside.
The children were met at the station by a ‘farmer’ who very kindly said she would let them stay on her farm to stay safe from bombing. They travelled by steam train from Winchcombe to Cheltenham and then back again. Along the way they had a sing-a-long of It’s a Long Way to Tipperary and Run Rabbit, and there was a mysterious German ‘spy’ on the train, who was apprehended at the station. There was also an air raid which meant they had to take cover in an ARP shelter and sit in almost darkness listening to the ‘bombs’ outsides. They found it very scary!
Once the all-clear sounded, they had to gather hoses and water and then take it in turns to use a stirrup pump to activate the hoses. They were all very good at that! They then went to meet their new ‘teacher’, who told them more about the jobs they may have to do with their new family and they were shown many interesting artefacts. The children then watched a very moving short film about two evacuees and their experiences. After this, our ‘farmer’ allocated all of the children a job to do – cleaning out pigs and chickens, looking after the horses and some of them were big enough to drive tractors.
Unfortunately the children didn’t quite make it to the farm to settle in, as they went back through the time travelling portal (aka the ticket office) and back in to 2022.