Gunnersbury Park – Year 2
Year 2 enjoyed a fun and sunny day in Gunnersbury Park on Wednesday as part of their History topic on Florence Nightingale. Besides, playing in Gunnersbury Park, the children were able to meet Florence herself (!) and learn about her fascinating life, as told by her. Every single child had their part to play in the story, from being a member of family to one of her hard working nurses. Florence told us all about her life growing up and her determination to become a nurse against her family’s wishes. Amazingly, Florence followed her dreams away from her comfortable life in England and travelled by horseback, boat and on foot to the Scutari Hospital in the Ottoman Empire (modern day Turkey). What she found really shocked us! Cockroaches, rats and, no matter how hard the nurses cleaned, an awful stench. Florence never gave up, requesting scientists to help her understand why the soldiers were not getting better and that awful smell was not going! Eventually, all was resolved, the soldiers started to get better and the smell subsided – we’ll leave the children to tell you how… These gruesome stories and historic props really bought the topic to life for Year 2.
