Young time travellers in Sunderland bring school curriculum to life

Youngsters at a Sunderland school dressed to impress and bring their curriculum to life.
Young chimney sweeps.Young chimney sweeps.
Young chimney sweeps.

Time travellers, aliens, Victorians and evacuees could be seen around the city as the pupils from Grangetown Primary School took on the roles.

The youngsters from the school, in Spelterworks Road, were bringing a round of curriculum topics to an exciting finale.

Youngsters ready to serve in a Victorian household.Youngsters ready to serve in a Victorian household.
Youngsters ready to serve in a Victorian household.
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The time travellers included chimney sweeps, kitchen maids, and evacuees.

Year 2 pupils celebrated the work they had done on the Victorians and Year 6 classmates dressed up as children from the 1940s to bring their Second World War work to an end.

The older children even lined-up at Sunderland Railway Station, imagining what it would be like to be evacuated to North Yorkshire.

Later, however, they had fun preparing and tasting typical food from the war years, including Spam and fish paste sandwiches.

Evacuees set to leave Sunderland.Evacuees set to leave Sunderland.
Evacuees set to leave Sunderland.
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They also made their own gas masks, identity cards and ration books, along with flags and bunting to celebrate the end of the war.

Part of the day included a special music session devoted to singing songs from the era – the children now all know who Vera Lynn is.

Year 2 transformed their classroom into a scene from the 1880s, practiced their arithmetic and handwriting, and tried to do their best for their very strict teachers.

They also made their very own miners’ lamps, and played Victorian parlour games.

Learning is out of this world.Learning is out of this world.
Learning is out of this world.
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In Year 1 and Year 5 the main theme was Space and Year 5tasted real astronaut food, took part in gruelling astronaut training and created virtual reality aliens on their iPads.

The Year 1 children were searching for Obb, an alien who had crash-landed in the school courtyard a week before.

Headteacher Les McAnaney, said: “Themed days are not only great fun, they also bring aspects of the topic to life and help to embed the learning and make it memorable.”

Pupil, Jack Cheal, 10, said: “The day was great fun. The best part for me was when we made our gas mask boxes – we had a real one in the class, made in 1942, to use as a model.”