Year 4 spent a brilliant day at Hampton Court Palace on Wednesday as part of their study of the Tudors. Despite the weather the class's first impressions of the palace were very positive, with many overwhelmed by the scale of this great Tudor building. We were met at the Buttery stairs by the mistress of the wardrobe, who regaled us with insider gossip of the King and his many marriages as we sat entranced in the wine cellar, before taking us up to explore the Great Hall itself, with its magnificent tapestries and stained glass. After a hasty lunch in the Buttery, we spent a while longer studying heraldic devices, carvings, glass and portraits in the state apartments before making our way into the Chapel Royal, which provided an interesting opportunity for comparisons and contrasts with our own chapel. We quickly toured the Young Henry exhibition in Wolsey's apartments, playing 'Where's Harry' with a number of epic paintings. For many, the highlight of the day was the multi-sensory tour of the palace kitchens with Hampton Court's two wonderfully entertaining and informative food historians. The whole day provided a wonderful opportunity to really enhance the children's understanding of the age of Henry VIII. Parents may be interested to know that the Palace has a very full programme of events both this and the next bank holiday weekend.

When we walked in to class after lunch on Thursday we were in for a shock: a lady dressed in 1940’s clothes was standing there! It turned out to be Mrs Denby, she was here to tell us about war time and the 1940’s. She had also brought a lot of objects from the time as well. I found out that girls would go a long way to look good.
She went on to talk about jobs during the war and how everything changed. It was really interesting learning about war time with Mrs Denby and at the end we got to try out some of the arefacts

This February, girls from the third form went on a three day tour of the First World War Battlefields in Belguim and France. While exploring the Battlefields in the Ypres and Somme region, they had the opportunity to visit the "In Flanders Fields" museum, the reserved trenches at Newfoundland Park and Sanctuary Wood and Tyne Cot cemetery.

Girls compared French, German and British cemeteries and took part in the Last Post Memorial Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres where form captains laid a poppy wreath on behalf of the school.

Reception have had a wonderful time setting up their own toy museum. They asked their mums and dads what they played with when they were five and brought these toys in to show to the rest of the class. They have displayed the toys, complete with a label explaining who the toy belonged to. It has been a wonderful chance for the children to talk about toys of the past with their parents and grandparents. Some parents even managed to send in photographs of themselves, grandparents or even great-grandparents playing with the toys of their time. The children have been absolutely fascinated with this aspect of their toy topic.

On Tuesday 22nd January, Form I went on a trip to the beautiful city of Rochester.

We went to the castle bailey first to talk about what we had learnt about medieval castles in history, and then we went inside to explore the ruins. Even from the first floor of the castle, people were scared of what would happen if they fell, so when we got to the top, we were terrified! We also stopped off at a few places along the way: the well, the chapel, the great hall, and the dreaded cess pit. The battlements at the very top had to be the best; you could see everything, and there were some beautiful views of Rochester.

On Wednesday 16th January, Year 6 went to the ‘Britain at War Museum’. At first sight, the museum looked magnificent. I was particularly impressed by the posters which encouraged people to make a war effort. We saw a very informative film, which told us all about the evacuees and the Blitz.
Entering the main museum, we attempted to complete our worksheets. I was surprised to discover about entertainment in war time: there were many differences from today! Going inside a war-time air raid shelter was an amazing experience, with the sound effects making it very realistic. I was interested to learn that there were many different types of air-raid shelter, such as the Anderson and Morrison shelters. In the next section, we learnt about the lives of women during the war; I enjoyed learning about the women’s land army. Dressing up in war-time clothes, such as gas masks and pilots’ helmets was my favourite part. Looking in shop windows was very interesting; did you know that a school blazer would have cost eight ration coupons?

After our museum visits, the time came to sit back in our seats and enjoy the show, which fitted well into our history topic as it depicted the turmoil of the 1930s and 40s. As the curtains went back and we saw the wonderful set, we were all on the edges of our seats with excitement. As the first song was sung, we were all clapping so loudly that you could hear it a mile away! Aoife as Maria was brilliant, and we were really impressed by how well the Von Trapp children acted, sang and danced. The Nazis were particularly scary in the Salzburg festival and the cemetery. As it came to an end and the actors took their bows we all jumped up and cheered. On the journey back to school, we could not stop talking about it!

This December, the II Form traveled to the Palace of Westminster to discover more about the role of Parliament within society and to meet with local MP Michael Mates. Mr Mates, who had spent that morning in talks with the Chinese Foreign Minister, discussed with the girls his role as an MP and gave lots of valuable advice for those girls wishing to follow in his footsteps.

After a tour of the Palace, during which the girls witnessed a discussion in the House of Lords and a debate in the House of Commons on the effects of cheap alcohol on society, they visited Westminster Abbey. In the Abbey, they got the opportunity to see many of the tombs of the Tudor monarchs which they had studied in their History lessons. All had an interesting and informative day, and the girls learned a little more more about the roles and responsibilities they will one day have as adults.

On Thursday 8th November, Y6 children from Alton Convent School braved the cold and walked from Anstey Lane to the Curtis Museum to find out more about the effects that the war had on the town. The walk was led by Tony Cross, the Curator of the Museum. He shared his profound knowledge of the area, encouraging the children to look at evidence around them to learn more about the past. Many houses still have air raid shelters in their gardens. Now used mainly for storage, Mr Cross pointed out their original use during nightly air raids. The children were amazed to learn that complete families would spend night after night sleeping in such a small area. Bomb damage was evident in Eastbrooke Road where the 1930s housing had been replaced by more modern bungalows. Photos taken in 1940 showed what the road looked like before and after the Blitz.

Alton during World War II