Children in Broadstairs have experienced a little taste of what life was like for their counterparts living during World War Two.
A week of interactive workshops at Upton Junior School gave Year 6 pupils hands-on experience of life in wartime Britain.
Many children dressed as evacuees with name and information tags on their clothes, clutching their favourite toys and belongings.
The event was overseen by ‘ARP (Air Raid Patrol) warden’ Peter O’Sullivan in full civil defence uniform complete with tin safety helmet, whistle and First Aid kit.
Mr O’Sullivan is a retired primary school teacher who has been providing the wartime experience for pupils for the last 12 years. He said: “I have always been interested in 20th Century history and I gathered as many interesting artefacts as possible to give today’s children a little taste of what pupils in the war may have experienced.
“It also teaches them the importance of community and of supporting each other, just as those children did during the war years.”
Upton pupils played with simple wooden toys and read old comics and books; handled box cameras, candlestick and Bakelite telephones, and field glasses; tried their skills with Caesar code wheels and brass rubbings; and learnt about food rationing using scales and weights to divide out meagre portions from scarce foodstuffs.
Year 6 teacher Athanasia Papa-Adams said: “This is a wonderful start to our topic about World War Two. It gave the children an important insight as to what it was like in the 1940s.
“Peter O’Sullivan delivered the sessions with such passion, making it an inspiring and fascinating day for all involved.”