PUPILS at Mary Tavy and Brentor Primary School got into the spirit of the 100 year anniversary of the start of World War One by spending a day learning as if they were at school at that time. As part of the term-long topic of WW1, the children in class two at the school (Years 3 and 4) donned traditional clothing of the era for a day, with girls and boys arriving at the school through separate entrances and learning by rota and repetition. The children also used traditional ink pens and bottles of ink, which teacher Clare Carowicz said got 'very messy'. Ms Carowicz also dressed up for the day and took on the role of a stern teacher, complete with cane and Dunce's hat, which she admitted the children were not too impressed with. Another teacher took on the role of a school inspector and checked the pupils' hands and behind their ears for cleanliness. Ms Carowicz said: 'I acted as quite a stern teacher and whacked my cane down on the table. The children thought I was too strict, but they were all desperate to wear the Dunce's hat. 'They didn't like working in silence and they thought learning by repetition was boring!' The class also had a lesson in flag semophore — a telegraphy system conveying information at a distance by visual signals with hand-held flags — as a way of messaging in case of invasion. They also went on a nature walk collecting wild flowers to decorate cards to send to fathers and uncles who would have been away at war.