00:00A primary school in Rodmersham is bringing textbooks to life, as pupils are given the
00:05chance to hear first hand what life was like during the Second World War.
00:09Usually it's the teacher at the front of the classroom, but today the history lesson
00:13is going to be taught by someone that's lived through it.
00:17Clarissa Roos is 99 years old and lived through the Second World War here in Kent.
00:22She was just 12 years old when the war began and remained in Sittingbourne throughout the
00:27conflict, a town that played an important industrial and transport role during the war.
00:33I suppose we felt a bit anxious when we first had to make sure we kept all the lights out
00:41every night and put all the blackout curtains and stick paste up on the windows.
00:49I suppose I was just at home playing about, didn't take it in actually, because
00:57I'd got a younger brother and my other sister was two years older than me, so we were just
01:08kids together there.
01:10Students were able to hear Clarissa's stories and ask her questions about what it was really
01:15like to be a child during wartime.
01:17The visit was made possible thanks to her grandson, who is a member of the class.
01:22Well, we had started the topic of World War II in school because we're year six now and
01:29we started learning about it and I came back from school one day in the car, I said to
01:35mum, oh we're learning about World War II now, it's my favourite subject, I love World War II.
01:40And my mum was like, hey Nanny Crumbly should come in and talk about the war with you and all
01:46your classmates and I thought, that's a good idea.
01:51My mum proposed it to Miss Fawn and she said yes.
01:54Oh, being able to ask those questions and having that real living history moment was just
02:00magical for them and a really memorable experience.
02:02I think it's really embedded what we've been learning in school and again just made it real
02:07life for them, made it a real experience.
02:09For these pupils, it was a history lesson unlike any other, bringing the past to life through
02:16someone who was actually there.
02:18Maisie Walker for KMTV, Sittingbourne.
