Ted may have come home with 1 eye, looking tattered & torn, but he also came home with a story. Curiosity lead to history being embraced. Why became a daily question. Why did they go to war? Why did the soldiers get medals?

As teachers we not only enriched our children’s learning we also learnt alongside them. All the whys needed answers & together we dug deeper into the story of our Anzac’s. Our room started to capture the true meaning of Anzac Day. The children created poppies and wreaths to hang on the walls. They designed medals to wear with pride and more to share with loved ones. The learning didn’t stop - it was shared at home with their families & extended family started sharing their stories - stories of fallen soldiers & heroes from years ago.

Medals were brought along with stories of how and why there were received. April 24 - the day before Anzac Day. To conclude our learning the children asked to do something special. Every child invited one person special to them to come and spend time at preschool & share afternoon kai that the children prepared specially for them.

One grandparent came & shared medals, photos & stories of her father’s experiences in the war. He was a pilot & received numerous medals. We were shown photos of his plane on the aircraft carrier, before and during take off - there were many questions from the children. Every question was answered, wee minds being filled again with history & facts. The learning simply hasn’t stopped. The children have lead their own history lesson on Anzac Day & still continue to dig deeper.

This Anzac has proven how incredibly important this is for our children. How important it is to keep NZ history alive & remember the what our Anzac soldiers did to provide us with a future. And to think it all started with reading a simple story ‘Anzac Ted’.

BestStart Northwood

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