Partnership projects can be tailored to suit many different school subjects and approaches to learning, and the benefits of intergenerational work apply across a broad age range from primary school to post 16 education. However, it is worth noting that in some cases the subject matter encountered in a study of the Second World War may not be suitable for very young children. For suggested partnership activities that can be adapted to suit a variety of curricula subjects, please see the Partnership Guidelines for Schools and Young People section.
Humanities and Social Science (Drama, Environmental Studies, Geography, Government and Politics, History, Sociology)
Personal and Community Understanding (Citizenship (Global and Local), PSE)
Language and Communication Subjects (English Language, ICT, Literacy, Welsh Language)
Creative and Expressive Subjects (Art and Design, Drama, Media Studies, Music, Personal Development and Life Skills)
Personal Development and Life Skills (Sustainable Development)
By talking to veterans and using and interpreting maps, photographs, documents and reminiscences; through talking to veterans who lived or served overseas during the war; by investigating the local landscape for signs of wartime impact and by discussing home life then and now partnership activities can help students to:
- Realise that links as well as discontinuities exist between the past and the present;
- Uncover the impact of the war on the local natural and built environment;
- Understand how and why society has evolved in the 60 years since the end of the Second World War: e.g. advances in technology; the changing role of women; greater cultural diversity; the welfare state.
- Learn about other countries and other people in the 1940s and today.
By initiating in joint ventures that could lead to long-lasting relationships; by comparing and contrasting facts and information and by striving to understand different points of view and difficult moral and ethical choices, partnership activities can help students to:
- Compare motives for fighting in the Second World War to the reasons for conflicts around the world today ;
- Consider the impact of warfare on the global natural and human environment;
- Take an interest in, or play an active part in, their local community;
- Help to build a better future by understanding the past and developing responsible attitudes towards global issues.
By providing access to personal collections of Second World War memorabilia; by giving an opportunity to practice interviewing, listening and comprehension skills and by forming the basis for a range of digital projects partnership activities can help students to:
- Access a range of written and spoken sources of evidence about the war;
- Report on project activities and outcomes to a mixed audience;
- Use and develop ICT skills to produce a lasting record of partnership activities;
- Read extracts from Heroes Return Reflective Questionnaires to compare contrasting experiences and opinions.
Veterans and young people can join together to look at wartime newspaper articles, listen to wartime music and talk about some of the lighter aspects of wartime life. Partnership work may also take the form of young people and veterans working together on creative projects. In this way partnership activities can help students to:
- Work together with veterans on creative projects;
- Discuss wartime music, art, media and entertainment with partner veterans;
- Draw inspiration from talking with veterans to produce music, art and design, or to write and record a drama production;
- Incorporate 1940s entertainment and media into project work and exhibitions.
Through meeting veterans and organising and developing projects and events, partnership work provides the ideal opportunity for young people to acquire and give evidence of essential skills in the application of ICT, communication, and working with others. These skills can contribute to post-16 Key Skills in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and Core Skills in Scotland.
