Celebrations - but not as we know it!

Hello again, Y6. 

I hope you have all been able to stay well and safe again as we start another week missing each other. However, I can see a glimmer of light towards the end of our lockdown journey and I know it won’t be long now until we will be able to return to school, see our friends and make plans for your futures. 

This week seems to be all about ‘Celebrations’ but not in the way I had envisaged. Evie, (my eldest daughter) becomes a TEENAGER on Sunday (the same day as her dad). In ordinary times she was going to celebrate with her friends and have her ears pierced (something she has wanted for sooo long!!!!!) but now those things are on hold and the day will be quite different to what we had imagined. However, we are hoping to still make it as wonderful as we can in other ways instead. This got me thinking as to how you might have celebrated different key moments with your families and households. What different things did you do to make it special for your loved ones? How did you get in touch with those who you couldn’t be with? And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to everyone who has turned 11 years old during Lockdown. It will certainly be a birthday you’ll NEVER forget and remember for years to come. 

 

Just like VE Day on Friday 8th May. This is another Celebration taking place this week to commemorate Victory in Europe Day when Winston Churchill announced the end of World War 2 in Europe with a special speech broadcast from 10 Downing Street on the 8th May 1945. The early May Bank Holiday, which is usually the first Monday in May, was moved this year so celebrations could coincide with 75 years to the day! Many ‘Street Parties’ had been planned as these were similar to how Britain’s celebrated in 1945. Of course, like birthdays, these celebrations are going to be different this Friday but it hasn’t stopped people thinking of imaginative ideas to celebrate the events in style. Have you got anything planned? It’s not too late and below are some really useful sites you can visit and activities you can complete. As your home learning this week, please try to  spend some time researching VE Day history. I would love to hear all about this when we are back in school so take pictures and I know some of you (as always) will go the ‘extra mile’ to share your experiences in a really exciting way. 

The day’s commemorations will begin at 11am with a 2 minute silence and you can watch Winston Churchill’s speech at 2.45pm on BBC 1. 

Useful Websites:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/48201749 has some really useful information about VE Day. 

https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/10-photos-of-ve-day-celebrations If you enjoyed our visit to the Imperial War Museum, then check out this site which has VE Day in pictures. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4TrqYDyf4PMdLypxzyTwGDg/great-british-bunting has a brilliant site of different templates to use if you would like to make your own ‘Great British Bunting’. 

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/ve-day/ has a useful site of VE Day facts, videos and instructions to learn a VE Day dance too. 

https://ve-vjday75.gov.uk/veday/ This site has everything in one place - from watching video stories of the veterans, posters,1940’s music playlist to cooking your own VE Day Menu. Go to the ‘Get Involved’ section on the right-hand side  drop down menu. 

However you mark VE Day history on Friday, remember you are making history in a lockdown our generation has never seen before. Just think, in 75 years your ancestors could be remembering us and the decisions we made to come together to make the world a better place ! 

Celebrate safely, 

Our love Mrs Jones & Mrs Stanley xx