“Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.’” Winston Churchill, 1940.

The Year 6 team are very excited to launch a topic on World War II with the essential question- ‘Could you survive war and conflict?’

This topic will be looking at WW2, why it started, the key leaders or individuals of the war and how life changed for civilians on the Home Front. The children will learn about British geography, and how this allowed children to be evacuated to safer areas of the country. They will learn about government initiatives, such as blackout curtains and ‘Dig for Victory’, to keep the nation safe and healthy during the Blitz. This will help them to understand how incredibly life changed for all during WW2. 

Some highlights will include:

• Learning the cause and key events of WW2
• Developing painting skills of people experiencing past and current war and conflict
• Singing WW2 ‘morale boosting’ songs
• Plotting routes for evacuee children to flee the cities 
• Making sweet treats from WW2 rations, to have at their legacy

For their final outcome, the children will host a remembrance themed celebration for current and ex-service personnel. This event will celebrate the tremendous bravery our armed forces have shown in their service, and to honour those who have given their lives in war, to protect our country. The children will serve homemade sweet treats that they have made, sing iconic WW2 songs and read their own war-themed poetry to the guests.

This will be an exhilarating topic that will give each child an eye-opening experience into the world wars, how they have impacted the world we live in now, and how we can avoid global conflict in the future. They will also learn about current global conflict, and how this is affecting the world in which we live. If you have any resources, artefacts or expertise you wish to share, please feel free to contact a member of the team. 

Home Learning 

Every two weeks the children will be introduced to a new home learning challenge. These will be shared with you on Class DoJo. Each question will have a range of suggestions as to how they can share their understanding of each. They can select any way of demonstrating their understanding.

Across the term we hope that your child is curious enough to extend and deepen their learning and understanding further. Every two weeks each class will select a winning piece of work that shows innovation, creativity, depth of learning or original thinking.  

Please share any of their work on Class DoJo or bring into school with them.