Evacuee Day...

Date: 21st Nov 2018 @ 3:22pm

Would you believe that twenty-three evacuees turned up to Woodcocks' Well on Monday morning! 

We all stepped back in time to 1939 when it had just been announced that we were at war with Germany. 

We were met in the morning by Ada Davies, who told us lots about the war and what life would have been like for children and families back then. The children checked evacuee's suitcases to make sure they had everything they would need, made lists from ration books (most people ran out of their ration stamps), tried on gas masks and worked through shopping lists with old money. We had all just sat down to have a nice rest and listen to the wireless when the air raid siren sounded! We quickly grabbed our gas masks and set off for the shelters. 

Luckily, we have two Anderson shelters on our school grounds, so we didn't have far to walk and we were soon safely tucked up inside. We wrapped blankets around us and sang some old war time songs, including ‘Run rabbit run run run’.

After a hearty evacuee lunch, we set off for Congleton Museum where once again we were met by Ada Davies. Throughout the afternoon, Mr Bill Pegley led us through his time in the war. Mr Pegley was just a child during the war and had many tales to tell us. Around the room were lots of artefacts and replicas of bullets, guns, Morse keys and Anderson shelters which Mr Pegley had made himself and which the children loved looking at! He was also kind enough to answer lots of questions from the children, which meant they got a first-hand experience of life back then.

Our day finished with our marching orders and a lesson in saluting from Mr Pegley, I think we all agreed that the children learnt very quickly!