MORSE code and top secret studies were on the agenda at Chilmark and Fonthill Bishop School as pupils learned all about the Second World War.

Children in Year 6 studied in a blacked-out classroom transformed into Bomber Command as they formed a special squadron, nicknamed The Dambusters.

In addition to learning how to communicate in code, they were plotting grid references, writing intelligence reports and building 3D models, using trigonometry to understand the challenges faced by the pilots in calculating how high the aircraft needed to fly above the water. They also used iPad simulators to learn how to pilot the legendary Avro Lancaster MKIII bombers.

The mission was completed on Friday, with every pupil flying a bombing run in a Lancaster bomber that parents and staff had helped to construct in the classroom.

Year 6 teacher Jez Howell said: “The Dambusters was such an important and iconic mission during the Second World War that it was too good an opportunity to miss.

“The mathematics and science behind the creation of Operation Chastise lent itself so well to many aspects of the curriculum including angles, map work, letter and instruction writing, and not forgetting the opportunity to experience the mission as flight crews in our very own classroom Lancaster.”