PUPILS at a Romsey school delved into the past as part of a project focusing on different generations.

Children at Romsey Abbey C of E Primary school got the chance to share their experiences with older residents, who educated pupils on what it was like to live through the war.

The theme of the intergenerational project was early childhood experiences.

Headteacher, Julie-Anne Palfrey, said: "The project was organised by the Vicar of Romsey with some of the more senior members of the congregation of Romsey Abbey who had offered to take part in this intergenerational project.

"The theme was sharing early childhood experiences.

"It was a real pleasure to host this project, which we hope will be the first of many.

"Bringing the different generations together was really special as was listening to the many conversations; each generation has its own rich experiences to share and it was an excellent living history lesson for the pupils.

"Our pupils really enjoyed their afternoon with their older companions and will take this learning back into their classrooms to share with their fellow pupils. A really positive and enriching experience for all.”

Vicar of Romsey, Revd. Thomas Wharton, said “We knew that some of our senior congregation members have time to give and a rich life experience to share.

"Not all children have grandparents or people with time to listen to them; we thought bringing together different generations would be a great experience and it certainly proved to be true.

"There was a buzz in the room and we intend to plan more events like this in future.”

Inclusion Leader at the school, Julie Symonds, said: "Eighteen children from Key Stage 2 (Year 3 to 6) were chosen to take part in this project, we gathered in the school hall where the children were paired up with the visitors.

"The pupils were enthusiastic to ask about the differences between school now and times past as well as learning, first-hand, about wartime experiences and other interesting events in the visitors’ lives.

"Some of the visitors had even brought photographs and other memorabilia with them to show the children."

She added: "The visitors also discussed what jobs the children would like to do when they leave school.

"The air was alive with interesting conversation. About half-way through the afternoon, the pupils helped serve tea and homemade cakes to their special visitors and the afternoon was completed with they all played traditional board games together, majority of the games spanned the generations such as snakes and ladders, chess and draughts.

“The children were very positive about their afternoon and wanted to know when they could see the visitors again.”

The intergenerational project took place on Thursday, January 23.