With Academy Day falling so close to Armistice Day, the Year 9 students travelled to the Imperial War Museum to learn more about the day-to-day reality of life on the home front.

The first exhibition they visited, entitled ‘A Family in Wartime’, tells the story of how ordinary people braved the challenges of life at home during the Second World War. Students tracked the story of the Allpress family from the start of the war to its end. They particularly enjoyed cramming into the metal husk of a garden air-raid shelter and many were shocked to see just how much of London was affected by the Blitz on a wall-sized map.

The second exhibition they visited – ‘Horrible Histories: Spies’ – was a fun-filled extravaganza of interactive displays about the role of espionage during the war. Armed with the knowledge that urine can be used as an invisible ink, the students returned to the Academy enlightened and, no doubt, somewhat exhausted.

Mr R Beinart