This month's talk is by Mary Smith, former Headteacher at Maidstone Girl's Grammar School

The talk tells the story of school life during WW2, arising from two fascinating recent discoveries. The first was the uncovering of an extensive set of tunnels used as underground classrooms, and the second was the discovery of an exquisite set of paintings created as the war unfolded. These are the work of a wartime art teacher who set out to document the lives of school pupils and their teachers in paint and pencil as the war unfolded. Her paintings and sketches provide a unique and intriguing insight into wartime school life. This is a highly visual talk, both poignant and amusing, and would fascinate anyone interested in the home front during WW2.

Mary Smith spent her career in education, most recently as headteacher of a large secondary school. She has worked also as a freelance journalist, author, lecturer, presenter and trainer.