PUPILS from Beaconhurst School were given a taste of war-time rationing as part of a project on World War Two.

Children from J3 took part in a tasting session with the school’s catering staff where they learned how to make simple 1940s dishes before sampling them.

The meal – of pea and potato stew, vegetable oatmeal casserole and bread pudding – was typical of the time and made use of products such as home-grown vegetables which were more widely available than rationed goods.

The food was cooked by catering manager Marie Brunton for the project organised by class teacher Erika Reed.

Mrs Reed said: “When I approached Marie about my idea to sample WW2 recipes, she was keen to get involved and offered to source the recipes.

“Marie knows the children well and had a good idea of the type of recipes that would be suitable for them to taste.

“It proved a great session which gave them a better understanding of food rationing and allowed them to make comparisons between their own lives and those of children living during WW2.”

The J3 pupils have been following an educational BBC drama series, Spywatch, which features the lives of evacuees during the Second World War.

Mrs Reed has been using the programmes as a gentle introduction to the war which they study in greater depth further up the junior school.

She said: “I was delighted with the results of the tasting project and the way catering staff were so happy to get involved.

“It wouldn’t have been nearly as good if I had tried to carry it out in my classroom.”

Mrs Brunton was delighted to organise the taster and said the pupils loved taking part.

There was a mixed reaction to the dishes with the bread pudding proving the most popular and the vegetable and oatmeal casserole the least favoured.

She said: “It gave pupils the chance to experience what food rationing was like and immerse themselves in the lives of WW2 children.

“They were very enthusiastic and I talked them through the recipes before cooking the dishes and letting them try them.

“They thought about what they were tasting and I got some good feedback comments including `WW2 recipes were different to ours because food was rationed’ and ‘You couldn’t waste your food in WW2. You had to eat it all up.’

“I felt that showed they understood what was going on.”

The school is now considering coming up with a WW2- themed menu to serve to the whole school on Armistice Day in November.

Headteacher Sandra Bannerman said: “This was a fantastic project which turned something theoretical into real life and gave pupils a great insight into what life was like for children during the Second World War.

“They were able to discover what was rationed and what foods, such as carrots, were easier to source.

“The experience showed how much the catering staff are part of teaching and learning at the school which is unusual.

“They have a real investment in the pupils’ learning and are an integral part of the school community.”