Year 6 were lucky enough to receive exciting parcels called “Post from the Past” from Dorset History Centre. Inside the parcels were the contents to learn about different local letters from the Williams family dating back to the 1900s, activity packs to complete about each intriguing letter and then beautiful paper (with matching envelopes!) to respond to the staff who had compiled the packs.
The children spent their lessons learning about different types of communication- from inked pens and posh paper to modern-day “tweeting” to Dorset History Centre. The children then looked at the census that was compiled for the Williams family in 1911 and compared it to the 2021 version. They then read through different letters, to notice similarities and differences, before planning a response.
The purpose of their letters was to inform the staff about an average day here at Winton, before telling them what they had learnt from the exciting parcels and about any previous experience for writing a parcel. It was interesting to hear that many children had not written and posted their own letter before, so it was an exciting morning when completing this for the first time.
The most exciting part, as all children have agreed, was picking paper to write a reply on, before sealing their individual envelope and affixing a stamp. Good luck to the Year 6 teachers as they take a lunch trip to fill the local post box with 120 individually addressed letters for the wonderful staff at Dorset History Centre!