Our 1940s party! Monday 8th January 2018

Today we had a 1940s party as we have been studying this period in British history. As you can see from the photos, the children dressed up in historical costume to mark the occasion.

The class made authentic food to reflect the wartime situation when food was rationed and not always available:

Uncooked chocolate cake (see recipe below)

Vegetable salad (using cabbage heart and grated carrot)

Corned beef and spam 

Cucumber and grated cheese sandwiches

In addition, the children made decorations to add to the party atmosphere - Union Jack placemats, name cards, flags for the sandwiches, bunting and World War 2 posters.

The recipe for the chocolate cake is as follows:

No-cook Chocolate Cake

For the cake:

8oz (225g) digestive biscuits

3oz (85g) plain chocolate

3oz (85g) butter or margarine

1oz (25g) caster sugar

Few drops of vanilla essence

1 level tablespoon golden syrup

For the topping:

2oz (50g) butter or margarine

Few drops of vanilla essence

4pz 115g) icing sugar

Approximately 2 teaspoons of milk

1-2oz (25-50g) chocolate drops

Cake

Crush the biscuits into fine crumbs.

Break the chocolate into small pieces, put in a heatproof bowl and melt over hot water.

Cool slightly.

Add the butter or margarine with the sugar, vanilla and syrup to the chocolate. Beat until soft and creamy.

Add the crumbs and mix well.

Place a 7-8 inch (18-20cm) flan ring or flan dish on a serving plate and fill with the crumb mixture.

Press down firmly and chill overnight or for several hours.

Topping

Cream the butter or margarine for the topping with the vanilla.

Sift in the icing sugar and mix well.

Gradually beat in enough milk to give a fairly firm spreading consistency.

Coat the top of the cake then decorate with the chocolate drops.

The cake was delicious - just goes to show what you can make with only a few ingredients!

Here are some photos from the day - food preparation first, followed by decoration creation and then the party. Enjoy!

The Blitz- an Art project

As part of our topic on World War 2, we have looked at art work from the time of the Blitz and how the artists or photographers use shape, line, pattern, colour and texture to make an impact on the viewer.

 Then we recreated some of the artwork, using watercolours...

...before making up our own, simpler design, using some ideas from the art we had seen. It needed to be simpler, to enable us to created it from fabric...

Here are some photos of the beginning of the fabric collage process...finished pieces later...

They are looking dramatic, which was part of the purpose and the stitching practice will be useful for a DT project later in the year. 

We will blog some of the finished pieces when they are done.

First hand experience of World war 2

Today, Mr Mitchell, one of our Grandads, visited to answer our (many) questions about World War 2. he had lived in London at the time and was briefly evacuated to Essex. He told us some information about the war and some individual stories about himself and people he knew in those times. It was truly fascinating and we very much enjoyed listening. Thank you, Mr Mitchell.

Kestrels visit Imperial War Museum, Duxford

'What an excellent day: memorable events (going on an aeroplane- Concorde; learning from an older person), learning about World War 2 for our current topic, mostly blue skies and exemplary behaviour. Superb....

On Concorde

Beneath Concorde

Dressing up

In the Battle of Britain exhibition

Outside

A great day that we will write about, to remember it and to tell others about it- coming soon....