A day in the life of a child during the Second World War filled Year 5 pupils at Eastry Primary School with empathy.

The class has been studying how the war impacted on the lives of children and they were able to put all their knowledge to good use when they were visited by Peter O’Sullivan, the Air Raid Precaution Warden, on Tuesday.

Having made their gas masks, ID cards and ration books, split their rations and packed their suitcases, the children were prepared.

They found themselves transported back to the 1940s where they had the chance to play with toys, pastimes and groceries from the war era.

They were tested on their code-cracking skills, and were encouraged to solve mini mystery codes without telling anyone else.

After lunch, Mr Hargreaves the school teacher arrived to organise an evacuation.

Unfortunately, in the middle of his explanation, the air raid siren went off and the children had to take cover and put on gas masks.

Several nearby explosions resulted in ‘broken glass’ showering the children, but luckily there were no casualties.

After the worry of the raid the children were swiftly removed to the local railway station where they boarded a train to South Wales. Mr Hargreaves ensured all children were seated with their friends, and the children finished the day by reading comics, playing cards or sleeping.

Year 5 teacher Ginny Harvey said: “There isn’t a child in the class who will forget the day quickly."

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