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Echoes of War exhibition
Creating an exhibition about the history of the local area has the power to awaken innate curiosity, stimulate imagination and foster creativity in those who view it.
When the Elmbridge Museum team started planning the ‘Echoes of War’ exhibition we thought it was vital to include the contributions of local primary school students to help link the past to the present.
We asked for the support of one of the museum’s member schools – St Andrew’s C of E Primary School – and were greeted with a resounding, “Yes, we would be honoured to help.”
Second World War civilian adult gas mask.
On Wednesday 1st October our Learning and Outreach Officer arrived promptly at St. Andrew’s C of E Primary School in Cobham armed with World War Two artefacts and archival photographs.
The session started with a question being posed to a group of 30 eager Year 6 students – What do we mean by the term Home Front?
Engaging discussion ensued with some groups offering interesting and relevant answers. The children were reminded to keep the overarching theme of everyday Britons pulling together here in the UK to support the war effort at the forefront of their minds when working creatively over the two sessions.
After investigating what an exhibition is and what it entails it was time for the students to get to work.
A section of the longlist provided to the students
In small groups, the students were provided with a ‘longlist’ of artefacts and archival photographs and used their observation and critical thinking skills to classify them.
Using measurements provided, the students categorised the objects into ‘small’, ‘medium’ and ‘large’ sized examples.
Whole class and group ballots were cast and the group decided to display one large, five medium sized and four small objects in their display case.
With the end of the first 90-minute session looming, students were tasked with providing a creative response to their chosen item, with some opting to draw or sketch in pencil and others choosing to write a descriptive statement.
Cooper's Warden Helmet
Gas Mask 
Warden Helmet
Tilly's Gas Rattle 
Princess' Gas Mask
Dillon's Fire Guard Armband 
Wrenne's Fire Guard Armband
Adian's Warden Helmet 
Montana's Gas Mask
Axel's Painting 
Emma's Gas Rattle
Luna's Warden Helmet 
Melanie's Warden Helmet
Grace's Gas Mask 
Poppy's Warden Helmet
Aiden's Gas Mask 
Charmaine's Gas Mask
Mia's Gas Mask 
Alice's Gas Mask
George's Shrapnel 
Elsie's Warden Helmet
Ophelia's Warden Helmet 
Dilly's Warden Helmet
Isabella's ARP Badge 
Ali's Gas Mask
St Andrew's school children designing backing boards for the exhibition
A week later both parties joined forces to take the next steps on their creative journey.
This time the session began with an oral language activity, with the goal of the exercise being to encourage personal storytelling and the use of imaginative thinking.
Provided with an artefact from the museum, students were encouraged to tell stories about it from different points of view.
This creative task proved to be vital for the following endeavour which required the students to write labels connected to their chosen objects whittled down to their ‘shortlist’.
A sense of quiet busyness fell over the classroom as students pored closely over their sketches and used facts about each object to bring their interpretative labels to life.
St Andrew's school children plan their exhibition
The final activity saw the class being divided into two. One group was charged with arranging artefacts and labels on plinths and stands to form a plan for their exhibition case, taking into consideration the size and shape of the objects when placing them on ‘lower’, ‘middle’ and ‘upper’ levels of the glass display case.
A second group were asked to use their artistic skills to design the backing or information panels that would give clarity and understanding to their display case.
Both groups enjoyed working together, bringing a real sense of meaning to learning about the past while linking literacy and creative expression.
