Our Year 5 and Year 6 pupils have been bringing history to life through an exciting Design & Technology project linked to their learning about World War II. As part of their studies on life during the war, the children explored how families kept safe during air raids and then set out to design and build their very own Anderson shelters. Blending historical understanding with hands‑on construction skills, they investigated materials, practised joining techniques and experimented with structural strength before creating detailed models of these iconic wartime shelters.

Here is one child’s explanation of the process:

“We did a DT project of making Anderson Shelters. First, we did research on different types of shelters. Then, we practised joining techniques with straws and pieces of wood. Next, we learnt to measure accurately — which was very important if it was going to stick together right. Subsequently, we made our designs for our structures. After that, we made different structures using cocktail sticks and sweets. Once we were happy with how to make a strong structure, we started to construct our final shelters. Once the basic structure was complete, we did the exterior for our shelters using lots of different resources.”