Just another history lesson….in a moustache
Year 9 pupils at the Royal Alexandra and Albert School turned up to their history lesson on Monday morning wearing flags, moustaches, hats and scarves. Part of their homework had been to dress up to represent the countries that were the main protagonists in the First World War. They then went to one of the school’s netball courts where a map of Europe had been drawn on the tarmac. Groups of pupils took up their positions on France, Britain, Germany and Russia and moved in formation to ‘re-enact’ the key moves in the build-up to the First World War. Head of History, Henry Warnock-Smith explained “We are studying the Schlieffen Plan that the Germans had before the First World War and learning how the failure of the Plan led to years of trench warfare. This kind of teaching can bring to life the events of the past and give pupils an idea of the thinking behind the key decisions that were made. The pupils were able to achieve knowledge of how ‘crowded’ Europe was at this time and how the clashing empires brought about the catastrophic events of the time.”
Pupil Dan Bennett, who was dressed as a Russian, commented “This was a really fun way to learn and it felt very realistic.”
