Paddington helps children learn about VE Day

Since teaching and learning at the School moved online, Junior Years Deputy Head, Claire Proudfoot, has been supplementing the L1-L3 class lessons with the ‘Friday Check-in’, a special time when pupils join a live lesson to hear a story.

As part of these sessions, she has been reading to the children from her own collection of 1970s Paddington books and then setting the youngsters activities, based on the cuddly creature’s latest adventure.

So with VE Day approaching, Claire decided to use the inspiration behind Paddington’s famous suitcase and label around the neck – WW2 evacuee children – as the basis for a special lesson. As a result, the pupils were able to learn more about WW2 child evacuees and the challenges they faced as they left the cities to live with new families in the countryside.     

The pupils also had the chance to take part in another VE-themed lesson run by Poppy Scotland earlier in the week and Claire hopes the activities provided an engaging way for the children to take part in the anniversary.   

She said, “The Friday Check-in’ is a wonderful opportunity for me to connect with the children, at the end of a busy week of online learning.

“VE Day is the perfect opportunity to explain Michael Bond’s inspiration for his Paddington stories.

“Schools in the cities were closed during the war and children faced uncertain times. We can draw some comparisons with the situation that for our pupils face during the current health crisis today.”