Teach Primary Issue 18.2

From 1870 until the 1950s, headteachers were required to maintain logbooks of all the things – inspections and visitors, outbreaks of illness, absences – that happened in their school each day. The records they kept give us a unique insight into how our schools can link into national and global events. This lesson is a fantastic opportunity for pupils to carry out their own research into the impact of air raids on York and the area around the city. You can download all the source materials for this lesson at tinyurl.com/tp-Logbook 1 | INTRODUCING THE LOGBOOK Ask the children to think about how we can find out about what happened during the air raids and what the impact was.What sources could we use? It can be difficult for children to think about a world before the internet, so explain that we can examine radio and newspaper reports, photographs of damage, local walks, and maps. Introduce the school logbook ( tinyurl.com/ tp-Logbook ) and think about how it could help us to find out what was going on in the local community. Even though logbooks were kept by headteachers as a school record, events outside will have impacted on the school community, so logbooks can give us a valuable insight into a school’s place in local, national and global events. The handwriting can be difficult to read, so share the transcript alongside the photograph of the log entry. 2 | DIGGING DEEPER Ask the children what they notice about each logbook entry. What is it telling us about what was happening in the school and the wider area on that day? The red entries tell us about times that the school opened late or was cancelled as there had been air raid warnings or ‘night alerts’ overnight. How do the children think they would feel coming to school after being woken in the night? START HERE MAIN LESSON WHAT THEY’LL LEARN l Why York was a target for air raids in World War II l What the Baedeker raids were l How school logbooks can help us learn about history l The consequences of the bombing on the local area History This lesson looks at the impact of the destructive air raids carried out by the Luftwaffe (the German Air Force) in the spring of 1942. In our school, it formed part of a wider local history study into the impact of World War II. Introduce the topic by asking the children why they think York would have been a target for German air raids. Discuss how it was an important part of the railway network, which was vital to transport goods and people around the country. Explain that the city also had cultural and historic buildings, and therefore became part of Germany’s plan to destroy public morale by bombing historic cities, through the Baedeker raids. Local history: The impact of WW2 air raids School logbooks provide fascinating first-hand accounts of everyday life during wartime, explains Rachel Bruce KS2 LESSON PLAN @rachelthebruce1 76 | www.teachwire.net