ANZAC Poppies

This year ANZAC Day (25th April) is going to be extra special.  It will mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli, one of the worst events for ANZAC soldiers in World War One.

In preparation for ANZAC Day, our class has been really lucky to be able to make pottery poppies with Mrs Henderson. 

In our first session, we had to mould the clay into the right shape - this was tricky!  The clay was sticky and we had to use a bit of water to make it easier to manipulate the clay.  Some people used too much water and ended up with a soggy mess!  Next we had to gently poke a hole in the bottom, and make the 'disc' that will sit inside the poppy.  Mrs Henderson then took the clay away to get fired in the kiln.  This means they are cooked at half a million degrees!

Today was round two.  This involved threading the poppy onto a steel hook and dunking it into a bucket of glaze - pink liquid glass.  Mrs Henderson will then take these away to be fired in the kiln again - at 1 million degrees!  This will make them turn a bright red colour.  Next term, we'll assemble the poppies, all ready for ANZAC Day.