What was life like in different parts of Great Britain before, during and in the aftermath of the Second World War? Where did people work, what were their homes and schools like and what did they do for leisure?
A new project from education charity Into Film, in partnership with BBC Learning, the British Film Institute (BFI) and the British Council, is encouraging children aged seven to 11 to explore and commemorate local history by recording interviews with members of the war-time generation and combining the footage with archive clips to create their own short documentaries.
Inspired by upcoming BBC Two series Britain's Greatest Generation, which marks the 70th anniversary of the conflict, the project includes a curriculum-linked teaching resource from Into Film, a film-making toolkit to aid production of the final film, and a collection of archive clips from the BFI and British Council archives.
The resource outlines 11 themes, ranging from food, health and childhood to work, politics and war, and offers a variety of educational and creative activities.
Completed films will be showcased on a dedicated section of the Into Film website and all those submitted by May 20 will be considered for inclusion in a BBC Learning compilation film.
Into film is running four free CPD sessions to support teachers participating in the project, taking place in Birmingham (March 18), Manchester (March 23), London (March 24), and Omagh (March 31). See online for details.
The Greatest Generation resource is available now at www.intofilm.org/greatest-generation with archive clips available from mid-April.