Wartime Docklands - Museum of London · Wartime Docklands Museum and school ... It is the...

© M

useu

m o

f Lon

don

2011

Wartime Docklands

Museum and school project

Object handling at your school

Art workshop at Museum of London Docklands

© Museum of London 2011

Contents National Curriculum links and session descriptions 1

Practical guidelines 2-3

Pre-visit and follow-up activities 4

Visual symbols 5-9

Background to Docklands at war 10

Photos 11-12

Planning your journey 13

1


Curriculum links

KS2 History – Children in the Second World War Remembrance Day KS2 Citizenship – Human Rights

Session descriptions

1) Object handling at your school This session uses artefacts, photographs and documents to explain why London’s docks were targeted during the Blitz and to illustrate the experiences of evacuees and the local community. Pupils will have the opportunity to handle exciting artefacts, try on helmets and costumes and take part in role-play. 2) Gallery exploration and art workshop at Museum of London Docklands During the second session, pupils visit the Museum and experience out atmospheric replica air raid shelter in the Docklands at War gallery. They will explore the collection of paintings by war artist William Ware and then create their own drawings and paintings inspired by what they have seen. Both sessions last 60 minutes.

2


Practical guidelines Your sessions Please check your confirmation letter which will confirm the time of your session. If there are any problems please contact the SEN Programme Manager on 020 7814 5549 or at [email protected] To maximise the enjoyment and value of the visits please: • introduce to the group some general background information about the Museum of

London Docklands

• discuss what it might have been like to live in war time Britain. How would life then compare to life today?

• introduce the children to some of the words related to the topic using the symbols and pictures below

• remember to have your camera. Photography is encouraged during the session and can be useful for follow-up work and as an enjoyable way to remember the visit.

3


Your visit to the Museum of London Docklands Arrival, cloakroom and toilets When you arrive at Museum of London Docklands, please use the schools entrance on Hertsmere Road. You will be directed to the cloakroom area where you will be able to leave your coats and bags and go to the toilet before the session. Please do not leave valuables in the cloakroom area. Lunch Please check your confirmation letter for your allocated lunch time. There is no eating or drinking in the galleries, so please ensure that all food stuffs are left in the cloakroom. Special Educational Needs provision The Museum is fully accessible. Parking is available for SEN groups. Please contact our SEN Programme Manager to discuss any specific needs on 020 7814 5549 or at [email protected] Shop The shop sells a variety of books and products to support learning, as well as pocket money items. For further details contact the shop by email at [email protected] or call 020 7001 9803. Photography Photography during schools session is welcomed. You are also welcome to take general photographs within the Museum galleries, but not close-ups of individual objects. The use of flash or tripods is not permitted. These images may only be reproduced for personal or educational purposes, which include reproducing the image as a classroom teaching aid or as part of a school project. Any publication of the image for any other purpose is forbidden, which includes publication on any website. As an alternative pictures of many of our key objects are available to download from the Picture Bank on our website. Postcards and posters can be purchased from the shop and prints may be purchased from our on demand print website www.museumoflondonprints.com Risk assessments It is the responsibility of the group leader to carry out a risk assessment and teachers are encouraged to make a planning visit and to carry out their own assessment. The museum makes regular assessments of sessions and public spaces and this document is available on request, but this is only for teachers’ information and does not constitute an official risk assessment. Pre-visits are free of charge and do not need to be booked. Please inform the admissions desk of the nature of your visit so they can help you make the most of your time in the galleries. Organising your group Please ensure that you have at least one adult for every five pupils and that the adults accompany them at all times.

4


Pre-visit activities

1. Look at images of London during the Second World War and discuss what it would have been like to live there at that time.

2. Collect examples of some of the materials and produce stored in the Docklands warehouses to illustrate why the docks were targeted during the Blitz.

3. Use the visual symbols to familiarise pupils with the key vocabulary for this session. Copy them and use them as flashcards or as a card game (snap, pairs, etc.).

4. Use the visual timetable that accompanies this pack to familiarise pupils with the different stages of their visit. The exact session times will be included with your booking information.

5. You can also browse the Museum of London online learning resources for materials to introduce pupils to the themes and concepts they will encounter during their session. These are all available in the teachers section of our website www.museumoflondon.org.uk

Follow-up activities 1. Put together an evacuee’s ‘survival pack’: all the items that an evacuated child

would need in his/her new home.

2. Make a multi-media evacuee’s diary. It could include photos/drawings of the evacuee’s new home and family, examples of unfamiliar objects and food from the countryside, recordings of country sounds, etc.

3. Act out for the rest of the class jobs and activities that evacuees might have done in their new homes.

4. Rub over old coins. Cut them out and use them in drama. You could make some ration cards and perform a role play, with pupils having to choose what items from their ration cards they want and pay the correct money for them.

5. Create a class dictionary using writing, sign language or symbols of all the new words encountered during this topic.

5


6


7


8


9


10


Background to Docklands at war, 1939-1945

The port and its communities bore the brunt of enemy attack during the Second World War. They also played a vital part in Britain’s fight in the war. When the war was declared in 1939, few Londoners were surprised. A Port Emergency Committee had existed since 1936, and the Port of London Authority had already built 200 shelters. London’s boats, including tugs, sailing barges and launches assisted in the evacuation of troops from Dunkirk in May 1940. On the afternoon of 7 September 1940 – ‘Black Saturday’ – the Luftwaffe targeted the riverside works and the docks. Fire and smoke, from incendiary and high explosive bombs, soon silhouetted the river. The Blitz had begun and continuous night bombing was to last for 13 weeks. The docks, factories and residential communities suffered extensive damage, destruction and fatalities. Civil defence and fire-fighting units were kept constantly occupied. Anti-aircraft guns and barrage balloons protected the river approaches. Dockyards and riverside factories, many now employing more women in the workforce, supported the war effort. Tate & Lyle manufactured aeroplane parts as well as refined sugar. Cable works produce much of the Pipe Line Under the Ocean (PLUTO), used to supply fuel oil for the Allied advance from Normandy in 1944. Many of the Phoenix Units of the Mulberry Harbours, used at the Normandy landings in June1944, were built in the docks and along the river. Over 2300 vessels and

craft were converted, maintained and repaired on the river. Even after victory was in sight, attacks by V1 and V2 rockets brought further destruction to the area in 1944 and 1945.

Black Saturday and 90 days of bombing

Late in the afternoon of Saturday 7 September 1940, the Luftwaffe launched a massive daylight raid on London. Ninety continuous night-time raids followed. London’s docks and riverside wharves were prime targets for enemy bombers. Incendiary bombs, designed to start fires quickly, were particularly effective as most dock warehouses had timber interiors which quickly ignited. Warehouses often had highly flammable cargoes. The molten column on display in the gallery would have melted under 1525 degrees centigrade during a warehouse fire.

The River Emergency Service (RES) The RES came into being in 1939 as a river based civil defence unit. The RES was responsible for rescue and ambulance duties and maintaining communications. Around 1500 volunteers operated a fleet of 170 small craft and fourteen ambulance vessels.

11


Gas mask, 1939-1945

Air Raid Precautions rattle, 1939-1945

12


ARP warden's helmet, 1939-1945

Bomb damage view from St Paul’s, Dec 1940

13


Planning your journey Admission to the Museum is free Museum of London Docklands West India Quay Hertsmere Road London E14 4AL 020 7001 9835 www.museumindocklands.org.uk

Open Mon to Sun 10.00am – 6.00pm Last admission 5.30pm

Travel By Tube: Canary Wharf By DLR: West India Quay By bus: D3, D7, D8, 277, N50, D6, 15, 115, 135 By coach The Museum does not have a coach park. Coaches may drop-off at the designated area on Hertsmere Road next to the schools entrance. Free travel: All schools within the Greater London area can take advantage of Transport for London’s School Party Travel Scheme. See www.tfl.gov.uk/schoolparty or call London Underground Customer Services on 0845 330 9881 for details. NB Travel under this scheme is only available from 9.30 am. Disabled minibus: We have disabled minibus parking spaces for blue or orange card holders. Please speak to the SEN Programme Manager when making your booking if you require a disabled parking space.

Cancellation charges We are able to offer these sessions free to schools thanks to generous funding. However, any cancellations will incur a charge. For details of cancellation charges, please see www.museumoflondon.org.uk/schoolsbookings

Wartime Docklands - Museum of London · Wartime Docklands Museum and school ... It is the...

Documents

Transcript of Wartime Docklands - Museum of London · Wartime Docklands Museum and school ... It is the...