CELEBRATING THE 75th ANNIVERSARY OF V.E. DAY

This Friday (8th May) is the anniversary of Victory in Europe Day...the day towards the end of World War Two (WW2) when fighting in Europe came to an end.  At 3pm on May 8th 1945, Winston Churchill (The British Prime Minister of the time) made an announcement on the radio that the war in Europe had come to an end, following Germany's surrender the day before.

If we had all been in school this week, we would be building up the excitement to celebrating this important event…the bunting would be coming out and the plans for a street party (of sorts) would be in full flow.   It is a school tradition to have the occasional dress-up day, and this would be a great occasion for just that...but being at home doesn't have to stop us doing something together! We would love to see you all in costume (maybe a soldier, an evacuee, something for a tea dance, or simply red, white and blue).

You might plan your own garden/street party, listen to some ‘40s music*, put up some home-made bunting or enjoy something from our WW2 recipe guide.  These and other ideas for getting creative, along with some web-links to tell the story of why this is such an important day in our history, are all here...please take a look and join in the celebrations if you can.

From all of us at Otterbourne CE Primary School.

*Absolute Radio (broadcasting on 1215AM) will be playing jazz, swing and big band music from the time, all day on Friday.

Some things that you could do at home (files attached below):

• Try some wartime recipes
• Make a 'Tommy' silhouette and display it in your window at home: 'Tommy' is set to be the image for the nation.
• Make a paper Spitfire to fly in your garden
• Create your own bunting (or colour the Union Flag design)
• Complete the activity pack of word problems and code-breaker problems
• Colour some VE-day pictures
• Research and design your own VE day medal? (no template)
• We have also included a home lesson pack for you to work through together.

Some websites you might find useful and interesting:

The Official Royal British Legion Website: https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/remembrance-events/ve-day-75?seg=WPDW3B

Bletchley Park have produced a fantastic resource pack:  https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/cms/2020/04/ve-day-activity-pack-3.pdf

and series of resources, which are also attached: https://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/learn/resources/ve-day-learning-resources

English Heritage: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/VE-Day

including some fabulous ideas: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/ve-day/

and a brilliant activity pack: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/siteassets/home/visit/ve-day-75/eh-ve-day-at-home-pack.pdf

BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/history-ks2-ve-day/z7xtmfr

BBC Newsround: https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48201749

Mr T Does History 

      KS1: https://www.mrtdoeshistory.com/ve-day-key-stage-1

      KS2: https://www.mrtdoeshistory.com/ve-day-key-stage-2

Dear all,

Today would normally be the end of term and the beginning of the Easter break. We would have given out termly awards and be waving you off to enjoy some play and down-time after all of your hard work. This break is a little more unusual than normal though, and with this in mind we know that - now more than ever - some sort of routine is essential for us all. So, during the Easter holiday we will continue to post activities on Google Classroom for you. These activities are optional and some may be a little more light-hearted than normal (for example, more game-based activities rather than worksheets).

Your teachers will continue to check in over the next two weeks but this will be a little less regular than what you have gotten used to: I’m sure you agree that they also deserve some down-time with their families.

Our new ‘normal’ online teaching service will resume after the Easter break.

Sending love and best wishes,

Mr Brooks-Martin