when we were young

Alison Sanza

Teacher -  English

In English studies, the students of 7S are studying the novel Chinese Cinderella – an autobiographical memoir by Adeline Yen Mah about her life as a child in China between 1941 – 1951. Mah focuses not just on her personal experiences, but shares also the impact of the context of her world. 

To understand the context of the novel, students selected a country in the world to investigate. In pairs or groups of three, they researched the culture, geography, historical and political situations during the decade in which the book is set. Each group presented their findings to the class, summarising their PowerPoint presentations with either a poem, a TV interview, a news item, a skit, interpretive dance or a rap song. 

Additionally, as the book is about one little girl’s personal experiences, we welcomed Mrs McCarthy (the grandmother of one of the students) to the class to present anecdotes and information about her life in the 1940s in Australia.

Another highlight of the day was the High Tea that accompanied this talk. Students all contributed to the event with home-made cakes, biscuits, slices and, of course, a range of teas. Three other students contacted and interviewed grandparents via Skype   (one in Burma,  one in Vietnam and another in Japan) to share personal experiences of individuals around the world in the 1940s. 

Following are some of the student reflections about this unit of work. 

Alex Lockhart

Year 7

In this English class, we were lucky enough to have Owen Parris' grandmother , Mrs McCarthy,  come into our class and tell us about her experience in the second world war.

Mrs McCarthy explained to us what her family’s role was in the second world war and how the war affected their lifestyle. She also told us of the after-effects of the war and some stories that other people had told her about the terrible time. Ms McCarthy explained the types of games she played when she was younger as well. These games included marbles and ball.

After Mrs McCarthy left,  Aya told us about what she had learned while talking to her grandma on the telephone. Her grandma lived in a relatively isolated area during the second world war and did not see much action. The only changes to her life were that the food was plainer and rationed and they saw all the events in the newspapers.

Linn also helped the class and got on the phone to his grandma and learned that she was extremely poor at the time and that Japan invaded Burm. Aftear the lesson we had a lot of snacks and tea that people had brought in and it was tasty!

Archie Laslett

Year 7

The information I gathered from creating my power point and watching others was great in the afternoon tea as I understood what people were talking about such as the events in WW2. I also enjoyed the delights given to us by everyone in the class.

Alice McCarthy

Year 7

I enjoyed hearing the different stories from across the world and how each person’s stories were different. I was interested in how the children from different countries spent their free time. Another interesting point was how people’s culture played a part in the way people dealt with the pressure of the war, how their traditions may have been affected by rationing and air raids etc. and the different impact that World War II had on each country and the ways it changed people’s lives.

Photo Gallery:  click on photos to enlarge

Indigo Johnson

Year 7

It was interesting to see how countries from around the world had a connection because of an event. Every single place had a link to each other, but they were all affected differently. It was also different depending on where you lived. Some people were far into the countryside so they had little to no consequences, while people in heavily populated areas suffered greatly. It was a wake-up call for most of our class. We knew that there had been a war, we knew there was misery, but hearing someone who experienced it made it so much more real. And that was their everyday life! Children didn’t have things like ice-cream because that was a luxury. Things we take forgranted they didn’t have - but they lived through it. Everybody who went through the period of war and survived has a story.  Those stories are so similar but as different as they could possibly be. It was utterly enthralling to hear someone’s experience. This experience was brilliant.

Aya Hocking

Year 7

I enjoyed looking at how life was like during WWII in different countries and how different all the cultures were. It was interesting looking at others point of views and what state the world was in at the time of war. The different perspectives made me realise how much the world has changed and how it has improved. Looking at how people dealt with this was also fascinating as it showed how brave and determined these people were. Different people experienced different things and looking at the difference between life in Australia, Japan, Burma and Vietnam gave us a useful insight to how these different countries were involved in the war.