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Unforgettable History Comes Alive: Year 6 Visit Hooke Court!

On Wednesday, Year 6 returned from a fantastic two-night residential trip to Hooke Court in Dorset. The clear highlight was the immersive World War One Experience day, where pupils stepped back in time to discover what life was really like for soldiers during the Great War.

The children enlisted into His Majesty’s service during a formal signing-on ceremony before taking to the parade ground for drill practice, bayonet drills, and stretcher-carrying. They prepared and ate a traditional trench lunch of spam, cabbage, and potatoes - though the Spam received rather mixed reviews from the recruits! After examining authentic period artefacts and making their own remembrance poppies, everyone headed down into the trenches, which turned out to be authentic and exceptionally muddy - in fact, rumour has it that Mr Ryan developed trench foot! The children rolled up their sleeves to fill sandbags, maintain the trench walls, and stand sentry duty.

The climax of the day was "going over the top". Waiting at the trench ladders for the officer's whistle, the pupils scrambled out into No Man’s Land amidst smoke and simulated gunfire, followed by a poignant two-minute silence and poem reading to plant their handmade poppies.

In the evening, everyone dressed up for a formal dinner in the Officer’s Mess - complete with pupil stewards and fruit-juice toasts - followed by a lively Old Time Music Hall singalong.

It was an educational, moving, and memorable trip that Year 6 will cherish for a long time. A huge thank you goes to all the wonderful staff who accompanied the children and helped make the trip such a resounding success!