Today we had a very interesting day at the Emergency Services Museum learning all about the Great Fire of London. First of all we completed a workshop learning all about the Great Fire of London; where and when it all started, how it spread and how they put it out.
We also learnt how to react if we found a fire in our homes. We learnt you get out, stay out and ring 999. We also learnt how to stop, drop and roll if your clothes caught on fire. We listened to a smoke detector and know that you should check them weekly at home.
After that we went and looked at fire engines through time. We even saw some fire engines from London. We learnt that fire engines used to be pulled by horses and that the safety uniform is very different today. We identified lots of similarities and differences in firefighting equipment over time. We then chose our favourite fire engine to draw. We used our resilience and focussing skills to really take care when producing a detailed sketch.
After lunch we met Jane Birch who was Samuel Pepys maid during the Great Fire of London. She told us all about what life was like in London and we had to tell her about what happens during a fire in 2025! Jane then showed us lots of ambulances and fire trucks which were used during World War 2 and we learnt about the Blitz in Sheffield and how firefighters were used to put out the fires. We know we will learn more about this when we get into Key Stage 2.
Finally we learnt about some different emergency services – coastguards, mountain rescue, RNLI. We even learnt a little bit about Grace Darling’s famous rescue. We can’t wait until Year 6 when we go and see the lighthouse from where she made her famous rescue. We were also able to sit on a Police bike and in a fire engine as well as learn about hoax calls.
Overall we had an amazing time and learnt lots about the Great Fire of London. We came home very tired but please ask us what we learned as we have lots to tell you!
