This term we have been learning about how WW1 affected the lives of people on Islay and Port Ellen by learning about the sinking of the Tuscania and the Otranto and the lives of the local people at the time. All through our WW100 topic we have made art work, researched from primary sources of evidence online, imagined letters and put ourselves in the soldiers shoes. The reason for this is that on Friday 4 May it had been one hundred years since WW1 and we had a big remembrance event on Islay. Everyone around the island came to remember WW100 in Port Ellen. The Islay Quilters had worked with local community groups to make the state flags of the US soldiers who died in the two sinkings, including our school; our class made the flag for the state of Michegan. The five schools on Islay came together to carry the flags in a procession to the pier and then we put them at the Ramsay hall for display. For the project we used our research to write letters pretending to be one of the soldiers from the Port Ellen war memorial, that we had chosen, writing to their family. We included the name of our soldiers, any interesting facts, information about family members and their jobs. In the hall there is information about the Tuscania, Otranto, and soldiers that fought in the war. Jack used a map of Port Ellen at the time to show where the soldiers lived. The art work we did was about the Tuscania and all different things about the war and was mixed media. The other schools also had things on display. We liked learning about the war and how the war started and how it impacted on people here on Islay.
By Jack and Aaron
