Havelock Schools go back in time

Pupils at Havelock Schools, part of the Pathfinder Schools family, have travelled back in time for a taste of life under the Victorians – and later, as wartime evacuees, during two immersive enrichment days this term.

First, the school hall was transformed into a Victorian classroom to welcome Year 1 pupils for a day of learning.

Led by a stern-looking teacher, the children experienced typical lessons in the three Rs and had a go at writing on slate. They were able to take part in drills and, at break time, played traditional skipping games, hopscotch and marbles.

Later, Year 6 pupils travelled back to the 1940s, arriving at Holdenby House as ‘evacuees’.

Dressed in cropped trousers, pinafores and cloth caps, they helped housekeeper Mrs North in the kitchens to organise the weekly rations and prepare seasonal wartime food, and were put to work for the ‘make do and mend drive’. The air raid warden also showed them how to keep safe, with their gas masks and at the air raid shelter.

Rachel Kiziak, Headteacher, Havelock Schools, said: “The children have loved taking part in these living history days, which have really made the past they have been studying come alive.

"While only role play, they were given a real sense of what school was like for Victorian children – hard work, repetitive and not much fun!

"And while society was more enlightened during the 1940s, our pupils still discovered how tough life was for young evacuees living through the war. A huge thank you to the Havelock and Holdenby teams for making this possible!”