Education

The Flixton Experience

Suffolk Cultural Champions: Case Study

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Aim: To compliment the National Schools Curriculum for children studying World War Two. Schools and the museum worked together to find creative ways of interpreting the collection for children.

(Learning about 446th Bomb Group based at Flixton during WW2)

Description: The result of this partnership is an education package incorporating two loan boxes and a guided visit to the museum. The children prepare for their visit in class by using the loan boxes which contain a mixture of artefacts and a ‘Memories’ folder collected by NASAM volunteers. Some of the stories are particularly designed to appeal to this age group: one of them recalls a boyhood memory in Norwich when Woolworths was bombed and sweets were scattered across the street! The author of this story is one of the people the children have the chance to talk to on their visit to the museum. The visit itself is carefully organised around a series of volunteer-led activities:

Four Study Areas

Home Front

Sit in an original Anderson shelter removed from a garden in Norwich. Explore life for children during WW2

Link Trainer

Training cockpits, some used by WW2 pilots. All children have a 'flight' during their visit to the museum, thus learning about the effect of aircraft controls.

446 Bomb Group

Children study the influence of the American presence at Flixton during WW2 and see artefacts from American Servicemen who were stationed here. Visit the museum's Bomber Command section and learn what an important part Bomber Command played during this time.

Valetta Aircraft / Sea Prince

While on their visit to the museum the children visit the rare Valetta aircraft and talk about life as a child during WW2 and evacuees.

Children get the opportunity to sit in the Sea Prince aircraft and 'bomb' a submarine.

Also

Children have the chance to look around the rest of the museum , study survival methods and learn about Morse Code. We also have a small shop where children can purchase souvenirs of their visit.

The visit was trialled over three weeks, and involved three schools and a total of 126 children. More volunteers got involved each week as they discovered what was happening.

The children said: "It’s really fun and you learn a lot of stuff"

"It’s excellent…hard but excellent" ..."This is well cool!"

About the partners: NASAM is recognised as East Anglia's Aviation Heritage Centre. Maintained and run by volunteers, with one paid staff member, the museum constitutes an impressive collection of aircraft and equipment. It also houses the Royal Observer Corps Museum, the 446th (H) Bomb Group Museum, the RAF Bomber Command Museum and the Air Sea Rescue and Coastal Command Museum.

For further information about this project contact:

Pam Veale

T: 01508 532646

E: nsam.flixton@tesco.net