Year 4 trip to The Imperial War Museum

On Tuesday 7th March, Year 4 had the most amazing trip to the Imperial War Museum in London! We were all very excited but also quite nervous as it was the first time a lot of us had been to London. We arrived at school super early and by 8:05 we were on our way.

On the coach we saw all sorts of famous landmarks in London, including the Millennium Dome, The Gherkin, The Shard, The Tower of London and we even drove over Tower Bridge. We couldn’t believe how busy London was and the size of all the buildings – much bigger than we are used to seeing in Southend and Shoeburyness!

After about two and a half hours we knew we had arrived at the Imperial War Museum because we noticed HUGE cannons outside of the main entrance! After a quick picture we went into the museum and stored our lunch boxes for later.

Upon entering the main foyer, we were blown away by the full sized V2 German rocket, Spitfire and Ohka planes as well as numerous exhibits of tanks, motorcycles and ambulances! We were tasked to complete a scavenger hunt, finding out various facts around displays and models and take groups photos in front of each.

We really enjoyed looking at miniature models of houses from the 1940’s and spotting all the unusual things, including a bath in the back garden and tape over all the windows.

Further on we were able to sit inside an Anderson shelter and felt just how cramped and dark it must have been for families down there night after night. The under table Morrison shelter was a real squeeze but all the children wanted to go in and experience how it felt.

Just before lunch we had time to look at the World War II gallery that included videos of planes and soldiers in Poland and Germany at the beginning of the war. The film of the D-Day landings really captured our attention.

On entering the main World War II gallery, the sound of planes and the air raid siren helped to recreate the sounds of a typical day in 1940. Images of planes flying overhead gave a real sense of how it must have felt to be alive during this period of time, something that made us all feel very reflective.

Lunch was much needed after a long morning exploring the museum. After lunch we had some time to revisit any favourite exhibits. The Enigma decoding machine was a real favourite with some of the groups and was definitely worth a revisit. With a final look up in awe at the Spitfire it was time for us to leave.

The children’s behaviour was exemplary throughout the trip and we received some lovely compliments from staff at the museum. Group leaders were very proud to be walking around the museum with such well behaved and polite pupils. They were a credit to the school.