This week’s activity

VE Day – Women’s role in World War 2

Over the last couple of weeks we have been discussing, in simple terms, the importance of remembering the end of the Second World War in Europe. One of our teachers carried out a whole day activity around the role and contribution that women made during this difficult period in history.

Tammy had brought in some photos of her great aunt who had been a WAAF in WW2. She explained that she had two roles. One involved keeping farms and food production going and the other was as a member of the RAF. The children were really interested in the old photos, taking care of them, as they understood that they were very old and precious to Tammy. One of the children commented “I like her clothes. What is that on her shoulder?” Tammy explained that it is a symbol comprising of a pair of wings, indicating that she worked in the RAF.

The discussion then turned to how life was different for people living during the war. One of the things they talked about was food rationing. Tammy explained that this meant food was not wasted. The children seemed a little surprised at this, with one child saying “but if I want something to eat, I just get a snack, we have lots of food”. Tammy went on to describe the role of the Women’s Land Army and the role they played in food production. Later that day, the children went outside to our allotment garden where they discussed how we help take care of it, with the support of Eynsford in Bloom, and the children thought about what other foods may have been grown during the War; on farms, in allotments and in people’s gardens. A few of the children commented that they grow strawberries in their gardens – we have a wonderful strawberry patch in our allotment.

One of the photos that Tammy shared was of an air raid shelter. The children decided that they would like to build their own one in the garden. Having thought about what they might need, the children decided our fort building equipment would do the job. They used a camouflage parachute to cover it up. As the children went inside, an aeroplane flew over. One of the children said “Quick Tammy, we need to get inside, it’s safe”, linking back what they had heard and seen to their role play. Another child said “but now we just go on planes to go on holiday”. Wonderful!

There are photos on our Facebook page

Thank you.

The Pre-school Team