Year 1 Pelicans and Cranes enjoyed travelling on a tube train, stepping back in time and experiencing the world of historic postal services by taking a visit to The Postal Museum on Wednesday. Spread over two sides of the same road, after the essential fruit snack Year 1 first enjoyed a workshop focused around ‘The Jolly Pocket Christmas Postman.’ Everyone met Postie Megan who taught us a special delivery song using Makaton signs that helped everyone become ‘Posties.’ We delivered a letter to ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and the ‘Gingerbread Boy’ together, finally Postie Megan lend us special Santa hats and we sang and signed jingle bells together.
After lunch, in which everyone shared their cool lunchboxes off to each other, Year 1 travelled to the building opposite where we discovered an immersive small town with streets, buildings, pulleys, slides, chutes and lots of letters and parcels to post and sort in the ‘Sorted! Centre.’
Wearing Royal Mail hats and tabards, Pelicans and Cranes role played working behind the Post Office counter, weighing and stamping parcels, used the magnets to create a new London on the wall, made calls in a red telephone box to their friend on the other side of the room, sorted and scanned letters and parcels on conveyor belts and used pulleys, slides and chutes to move the mail between floors.
The children were all having such an amazing time they didn’t want to leave! But we were moving onwards to the much anticipated Mail Train on the floor below. Cranes went first on the Mail Rail and Pelicans explored the hands-on learning experiences and interactive exhibits about the history of sending mail on the trains, how the Mail Rail works and what happens if there a break in the electricity running a train so far underground. Swapping trains and exhibition space for the next round, everyone found it very challenging to sort mail into pigeon holes when the floor is imitating a moving carriage as they would have done 100 years ago!
The Mail Rail is something that just needs to be experienced! Very small carriages in very narrow tunnels that were previously used to transport mail underground. Year 1 got a visual tour of London and the postal system, projected on the side of the platforms and told in the voices of Londoners. The children all enjoyed the experience, even if the unexpected ‘blackout’ shocked a few.
As expected, there were a few snoozy faces on the tube train home, but plenty of smiles after the adventures of the day
Jasper discussed the day’s events after, “I liked learning about the post office. I learnt that the mail in the past was delivered by train, and it was sorted underground.”
Amelie added, “We pretended we were on a bike delivering the mail as we listened to the postman story. We got to the museum on a train.”
Melissa and Erik both really enjoyed the Mail Rail, “We liked the train ride, seeing the platforms and when the lights went off.”
Dhiya spoke about ‘Sorted!’, “The play area was a Post Office! I liked moving the packages and posting the letters in the letterboxes.”
Joshua added, “I liked picking up the parcels and letters and dropping them down the chutes. The train was fun, I learnt how post was moved around.”
Thursday saw Year 1 meeting Father Christmas in the library and enjoying their Pre-Prep Christmas dinner together. Along with taking part in the 2024 Nutcracker Extravaganza on Friday, it’s safe to say everyone had a good time at the end of the Autumn Term.
Max said, “I saw Santa on the Polar Express and I met Santa in the library. I like Father Christmas!”
Erhan added, “I asked Santa about his boots and he gave me a present. It’s a square! I think Santa gave me a book!”
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