The Journey: evacuees and Kindertransport – working with the Holocaust Centre

Editorial Note: The impact of war on children's lives and witness testimony is a powerful way to motivate history learning through engaging children with the recent past. The process of developing this unit provides a wonderful example of reflective curriculum development, and a teaching and learning journey.

When I first taught WWII five years ago I followed National Curriculum guidance on the ‘impact of the Second World War... on the lives of men, women and children from different sections of society'. The obvious path to follow was that of the Evacuees – a well-worn, well-resourced study with role-play, construction of gas masks, and watching Carrie's War...