ICT and History

The Kent and East Sussex Railway

The Journey of a World War II Evacuee

Click here to read about 'interviewing an evacuee' experience.

The Kent and East Sussex Railway invited schools to take part in their 'Journey of a World War II Evacuee' from the 22nd to 24th May 2007 at Tenterden Railway Station. On each of the three days children had the opportunity to dress in costume and experience what it was like during those troubled times to leave the city and move to the countryside.

Pupils found out about the experiences and feelings of evacuees, from a wide range of information sources and were encouraged to communicate their learning in an organised and structured way, using appropriate terminology and technology.

On the days of the project the stations was dressed to aid the children in their recreation of what it felt like to be evacuated. With the help of EIS, KCC and SEGfL these experiences were shared with a wider range of schools and pupils by the use of videoconferencing, recorded video streamed over the Internet and a web site
dedicated to the project www.segfl.org.uk/microsites/evacuation

Schools published their 'Evacuation' reports on 'Making the News' website

Tenterden - Jamie, St Philip Howard Catholic Primary School
When we arrived at Tenterden there was a lady called Joan Worthing who showed us lots of things like the gas masks and ration books. Then we went into a white tent for a little while. When we got inside a man talked to everyone about World War II....
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My Evacuation Story - Ruth Marsden, Tenterden Junior School
The platform was crowded when Mum and I finally got my ticket. Children were clinging to their mums, and mums were clinging back. I caught sight of my best friend, Jessica already sitting in a carriage, reading a book. Jessica was over the moon...
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My Evacuation Story - Megan, Tenterden Junior School
As I was standing on the platform waiting for the train, I was clinging onto my mums arm determined that I wasn't going to leave her. I was frightened and scared and I didn't know where I was going to end up as well as not knowing what family...
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