Ashton ww1 ambassadors
On the 3rd of October, the “Ashton War
Ambassadors” travelled to the local Dunstable Library to research all of the
different factors, which affected the former students of Dunstable Grammar
School for Boys, influencing the general public in the years just prior to,
during and shortly after the war. Our moderately sized group of 22 students
were assorted and supervised Dr Mitchell, the coordinator of the Ashton at War
project, and Mrs Hardy, the resident school librarian.
When we reached the library, our group separated into more manageable groups within the range of between four and seven children. Each group focused on a different segment of the topic. There were five options, which each ambassador could choose to focus on, these were: the newspapers, literature, geography and the ancestry of the soldiers.
Because of the varied cultural areas of expertises amongst our members, my group chose to research literature and art, during the war. After we had split into the separate groups, my group separated yet again into smaller sub-groups. As G&T in art, two members of my group focused on drawing the scenes from the archives, the images the poetry of war painted and posters largely influenced by the visual propaganda of the war. The two thespians of our group, Natasha and I, focused our energies on research and brainstorming ideas for the play we shall later perform this year. Charlotte, who researched the newspaper articles and some poetry, fed back the information she found and wrote it down. I also wrote up some of my findings as well as some of the rest of my group’s research.
After approximately two hours of research on culture, all the separate groups rejoined and travelled back to school. Having now obtained a plethora of information on the wartime cultural aspects, my group began to consider what we could include in the play we are writing and some of us started to develop ideas by writing drafts of the script at home. However, I do not yet think that we have enough information to form a fully-functioning realistic script so I anticipate that we may need to return some time after half-term.
I hope that - if the War Ambassadors do continue this project – we will be able to visit the library again and also perhaps a more substantial source of information on the war, such as the imperial war museum
Later on, on the 14th October, some of the War Ambassadors advanced into the attic above A1 to get an idea about the environment the boys had lived in, while being educated at Ashton.
Click here to view a report by Eddie Bartlett
When we reached the library, our group separated into more manageable groups within the range of between four and seven children. Each group focused on a different segment of the topic. There were five options, which each ambassador could choose to focus on, these were: the newspapers, literature, geography and the ancestry of the soldiers.
Because of the varied cultural areas of expertises amongst our members, my group chose to research literature and art, during the war. After we had split into the separate groups, my group separated yet again into smaller sub-groups. As G&T in art, two members of my group focused on drawing the scenes from the archives, the images the poetry of war painted and posters largely influenced by the visual propaganda of the war. The two thespians of our group, Natasha and I, focused our energies on research and brainstorming ideas for the play we shall later perform this year. Charlotte, who researched the newspaper articles and some poetry, fed back the information she found and wrote it down. I also wrote up some of my findings as well as some of the rest of my group’s research.
After approximately two hours of research on culture, all the separate groups rejoined and travelled back to school. Having now obtained a plethora of information on the wartime cultural aspects, my group began to consider what we could include in the play we are writing and some of us started to develop ideas by writing drafts of the script at home. However, I do not yet think that we have enough information to form a fully-functioning realistic script so I anticipate that we may need to return some time after half-term.
I hope that - if the War Ambassadors do continue this project – we will be able to visit the library again and also perhaps a more substantial source of information on the war, such as the imperial war museum
Later on, on the 14th October, some of the War Ambassadors advanced into the attic above A1 to get an idea about the environment the boys had lived in, while being educated at Ashton.
Click here to view a report by Eddie Bartlett