Tank tracks

The Tank Museum at Bovington hosted the Blue Skies Level 1 session for Ferndown Middle School on Wednesday 28th June. The session focussed on the communication and teamwork needed to operate a tank. We learnt that the crew has to work together, each member relying on the others. We discovered just how vital communication is when we had the chance to drive a remote control tank, but wearing a blindfold. Clear instructions had to be given to the driver to navigate around a course and over obstacles. That was difficult enough but we also had to race too! Dan said it was really cool driving the tanks.

There was an opportunity to get into a real Chieftain Tank. It was very small inside. To find our way around the museum, we had to do a quiz to discover facts about tanks. This was the last trip before our graduation next week so we had a practice presentation too.

Tom Whitchurch, the Education Assistant at the Tank Museum said “It was a real pleasure having pupils from Ferndown Middle School via the Jon Egging Trust at the Tank Museum today. Pupils learnt how to be Cold War Chieftain commanders with a particular emphasis on communication and teamwork. Students practiced Cold War tank troop tactics such as tank positioning, jockeying and movement under fire with remote control tanks. Inter tank communication and teamwork was key throughout with pupils undertaking driver and commander roles respectively and practicing what they learnt. Pupils also had the chance to get into a real Chieftain main battle tank where they learnt about team roles in a tank and inner tank communication. The pupils from Ferndown Middle should be proud as they demonstrated a commendable attitude and aptitude during the sessions. There were certainly a few future tank commanders in the making! A real pleasure.”

Thanks to Tom and the volunteers who made the day so successful.