Things got serious in Social Studies when 7Wi turned their classroom into a war zone...literally.

In Social Studies, our class has been learning about World War I, and in order to better appreciate the experiences of life in the trenches as the Allied Powers fought against the Central Powers, we created a trench warfare simulation. The students used whatever resources they could find to protect themselves against the constant barrage of heavy artillery (bunched-up recycled scrap-paper). Some students risked everything by charging into No-Man’s-Land in order to gain territorial advantage, only to be struck down by flying paper.

In our simulation, the Central Powers won the battle, but then they were faced with cleaning up their mess. They were reminded that this is exactly what would happen in some towns and cities that were struck by heavy weaponry, and to consider what it would be like to see your own home in such disarray. As ANZAC day approaches, we will continue to learn and think about the sacrifices and experiences of our soldiers as they fought very real battles.

Later, the students wrote about their experiences of trench warfare. Here are a selection of insightful observations:

"It was loud and scary...you would feel the stress get to you when you would try to get to the other side, like you would not be able to make it. Bullets would fly past you and bodies would be around the trench." - Jasmine Low

"I felt scared and sad, everyone was shouting and there were dead soldiers. I was hiding in the trench and throwing bullets." - Emily Berry

"If I were in war I would feel scared. It would be hard for me to sleep. I would miss my family." - Amber Nichol

"I think it would be very worrying that you would not know if you would see your family and friends again." - India Lyons