Sheffield World War I Home Front Stories

Upper Key Stage II
English Scheme of Work based on Four Plays.
 
“I learnt that not everyone had the same experience in the war.” 
Year Five

In 2015 the Heritage Lottery Fund funded Whitworks Adventures in Theatre to work with five schools in Sheffield to research home front stories of World War I. Part of the bid included creating plays from the research which were going to be central to an English Education Resource and Celebration Event held in June 2017.

​The four plays are:

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• ​​Aliens? - A play exploring the story of Winifred Burnet trying to help her friend who falls victim to the Sheffield anti-German riots in May 1915. The play also reflects the status of women at the time of World War I and the research done by one of the schools on entertainment.​

• ​​Ernest - A play telling the story of a young man called Ernest Misson and his family across the whole of World War I. It explores the impact of his father’s service during World War I and subsequent injury.

• Heroes? - A play that tells the story of Arnold Loosemore who was awarded the Victoria Cross, from the point of view of his son after the war.​

• Buck Up! - A play about Painted Fabrics and organisation set up after World War I in Sheffield to enable disabled servicemen to work. It is written from the point of view of the children that grew up there and in particular tells the story of Arthur Fisher and his family.

​Download the resource, including scripts of the four plays, from the tes learning resource page here :​ 
https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/english-resource-based-on-sheffield-home-front-world-war-1-stories-11691325