WW1 in Scotland
Case study
Reflection on visit to battlefields
Every year, hundreds of schools participate in an excursion to the Western Front
WW1 Battlefields to honour the lives of those who fought and died for their
country and to learn more about the horrific conditions and battles that those men
were involved in.
As a History Teacher, I firmly believe that everyone should participate in this
excursion at least once in their lives. With that in mind, I set about organising my
own school Battlefield Excursion in June 2012, to take place in May 2013.
It was extremely important to me that the pupils involved got something
meaningful out of this and I was determined that it was going to be much more
than a ‘trip’ or ‘holiday’. I realised early on that for this to be successful I could
not simply hand over the organisation to a tour company and that I would have to
have a lot of input.
The first thing for me to do was decide who I was taking. I decided to take a group
of pupils from both second year and third year. The rationale behind this was that I
wanted to open the excursion up to as many pupils as possible but had to keep in
mind their ages and emotional maturity levels. I needed to be confident that the
pupils would be able to cope with what they were going to be shown. I also wanted
to take a group of pupils who had not spent six months or longer studying WW1 and
still had a lot to learn about the conflict.
With the pupil list finalised, the next step was to put together an itinerary. I
decided that a tour of the Ypres salient and Somme salient would be a good area
to visit as a number of key battles were fought here, but also, I wanted to show
the pupils how close the fighting was to Britain. I chose to take the pupils to a
variety of places, including war cemeteries, landmarks, memorials and ceremonies
so that they would develop a good impression of what had happened in diverse
settings. The final itinerary incorporated:
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Vimy Ridge Memorial with a guided tour of the trench system and
underground tunnels
Sanctuary Wood Museum and visit to the trench system
Tyne Cot Cemetery
Langemark Cemetry (for a German comparison and perspective)
Last Post Ceremony
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WW1 in Scotland
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Newfoundland Park with a guided tour of part of the Somme Battlefield
Lochnagar Crater
Thiepval Woods and Ulster Tower with artefact handling
Thiepval Memorial and Visitors Centre
Once I had decided on my itinerary I contacted a highly reputable tour company to
organise an excursion to include accommodation, coach travel, insurance and
bookings to all of the places on my preferred itinerary.
The next stage was to prepare the pupils for their excursion. I wanted them to
learn while we were out there but they clearly needed some prior knowledge to
build on. As the only subject specialist in the school, I had the privilege of
teaching all of the pupils that were participating in the excursion. In November
2012, I ran a series of lessons (approximately 6) that covered the immediate
reasons for the outbreak of war, where the Western Front fighting took place and
trench warfare. In addition to this, a soldier from the Army came in to talk to the
pupils about WW1 and life as a soldier.
Ten weeks before the excursion was scheduled to take place, an excursion booklet
was given out to all of the pupils that included more specific information about the
areas that we were going to be visiting and the significance of those places. The
pupils were asked to read this information carefully so it could be used as a
discussion point for them and their parents / carers at an information evening,
planned for two weeks later. At the information evening, we went through the
itinerary in detail and with accompanying pictures on a PowerPoint. The rationale
behind each visit was shared with parents and pupils and there was opportunity for
questions at the end.
I felt that it was important for the pupils to have time to reflect on their visits to
maximise learning. Each day, after dinner they were asked to spend half an hour
filling in a diary that had been given out to them prior to departure. Once they got
home, they added relevant photographs to this and shared their thoughts and
feelings with their peers during class. The pupils kept their diaries for themselves
and used them to write a short article / report where they were given the
opportunity to further consolidate their learning. A selection were put on the
school website to share their experiences and reflections with the local
community.
The final stage of the excursion was to share their experience with the rest of the
school. Eight pupils volunteered to lead year group assemblies from S1 through to
S3. They were given two lessons to collaboratively prepare a PowerPoint and
accompanying presentation where they talked about the trip,
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WW1 in Scotland
what they learned and the impact that the excursion had on them as individuals.
This was hugely successful. The pupils involved were able to develop their
presentation skills whilst peer teaching. They all presented with huge amounts of
confidence and were visibly moved by the whole experience.
Overall, the excursion was a success. Through careful planning, collaborative
learning and reflective exercises the pupils gained a deeper understanding and
contextualisation of the Battlefields during WW1. Furthermore, the pupils
experienced a range of activities in a multicultural setting and became more
responsible with passports, money and belongings.
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