Successful History Conference
Monday, 1st December, 2008
Friday 7th November saw SBEC History Department host a Conference for year 9 pupils from Stradbroke SBEC and Thomas Mills High School.
The aim of the day was to challenge the way that World War One is often perceived and to link the life of the soldier to the present day.
During the morning there were three workshops led by advisors from the local Education Authority and the Museum Service. Mr. D Banham challenged the idea that all the fighting was in the mud of France and Belgium by tracing the campaigns of the Suffolk Regiment through North Africa, Turkey and the Near East. He also looked at the role played by the ethnic groups that fought with the British Army and how this enables us to help challenge racism in today's society.
Mr. P. Jones looked at artifacts used during the First War and the pupils were able to see how heavy the Lee Enfield rifle was, remembering that some of the soldiers who lied about their age would have been a similar age to our pupils.
Mrs. L Walker looked at letters sent from the Front and how some of them were censored. The pupils discovered the importance of these letters in helping to maintain the morale of the soldiers.
The pupils enjoyed these workshops and learnt a great deal but I think that it would be fair to say that the highlight for most of them was the contribution during the afternoon of Captain Taylor and Lance Corporal Allan of the Royal Anglian Regiment. They have just returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan and provided the pupils with a display of equipment which they were allowed to try on.
There then followed a session where the two soldiers just sat on the floor and chatted to the pupils about their experiences and links were made between the First World War and the present day campaigns