At the end of last week, 5F and 5W spent the day at Beamish, to link with our War Horse topic for literacy.

Before our World War One workshop, 5F went into the 1900’s town by tram. Everybody was able to fit on the top level of the double decker tram, much to everyone’s excitement.

After disembarking (and a quick toilet break), we were able to catch a sweet making session. We watched as the working pulled the custard part of the the sweet so it would not mix with the rhubarb, before cutting.

After cutting sections off the mixture he ran it through a press, that made bumps in the long thin mixture.

He let it cool on the table before smashing it into the sweets we all got to try. It was really nice trying ‘still-warm’ rhubarb and custards.

Next, we looked in the garage (to look at cars that had to be wound up), the bakers and the dentist. Ask the children what was used to wash out your mouth in the 19th century…you’ll be disgusted, trust us!

We enjoyed another tram ride to the pit village, and after a walk through the woods, we met our Army officer.

We completed drills in the street, learning ‘about turns’ and ‘at ease stances’, before being asked to conduct an investigation. A 15 year old boy sneaked off to join the army, and we interviewed different people to find out why.

After our lunch, we went down the mine. We learned about the life of miners and their working conditions. We even experienced what it would be like if the candled went out in our lamp.

We ended our day in the school, looking at the classrooms and comparing them to our own classroom.

Luckily, Mr Forster does not have a cane or leather strap for misbehaviour.

Our last activity was playing on the yard, using hop scotch and the metal hoops. Not everybody was able to make the wheel spin.