To complement our Cultural Capital offer for our pupils at NRHS, Year 9 pupils visited the Royal Air Force Museum in the former Hendon Aerodrome.
Pupils were able to explore all six hangars of exhibits. One of the hangers enabled pupils to explore the history of the first 100 years of the RAF. Stories, objects and films as well as interactive games, which the pupils played, allowed our pupils to learn about how the RAF delivered its mission. Pupils learnt that the RAF relies on a whole group of specialised, creative and well-trained people develop new, innovative designs and practices. This has allowed the RAF to always be at the cutting edge of Air and Space Power.
Other hangars which pupils found particularly interesting were the WWI and WWII exhibits. They demonstrated the vital work of the service men and women who served in the wars. Many personal artefacts, such as medals, letters and uniforms were displayed with their stories to ensure that the bravery and sacrifice of the pioneers in aviation will never be forgotten.
Some of our pupils at NRHS are Cadets. One of our Year 9 pupils, who is a cadet, was absolutely delighted to visit the museum because he had only seen some of the planes in images or video. His favourite hangar was the one that contained the ‘Fighter Four’; a Battle of Britain Supermarine Spitfire Mk 1A, Hawker Hurricane Mk 1, Messerschmitt Bf109E-4/B ‘Emil’, Fiat CR42 Falco (Falcon) that all took part in the Battle of Britain. He said: ‘ When I leave NRHS I want to become a pilot, it has been my dream for a long time. This trip has made me more determined to achieve my dream.’
In a speech during WWII Prime Minister Winston Churchill stated: ‘Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few’ as he described the heroism of the RAF pilots who fought in the Battle of Britain between June – October 1940. Hurricanes and Spitfires fought off the German Luftwaffe making Hitler’s plan to invade Britain impossible.
Our pupils showed a great deal of interest in knowing more about the events that took place in WWII and did a lot of positive learning.