PUPILS from two East Lancashire schools swapped history books for poetry as part of a project exploring what life was like during the Second World War.

Youngsters from Beardwood School, Blackburn, and Darwen Vale High School were involved in a range of activities in collaboration with Lancashire artists Norman Warwick and Pam McKee.

The duo, who tour schools in the UK as Just Poets, were commissioned by Blackburn Museum to encourage pupils with creative writing, role play and debate.

At each school they spent three half-day sessions to get children to write poetry and gain a new perspective on the 1939 to 1945 conflict.

The display complemented the Imperial War Museum's touring exhibition Their Past Your Future, which ended at Blackburn Museum on April 17.

The exhibition was part of a £10million, year-long programme of commemorative and educational events to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the war.

Mr Warwick said the schools benefited from the course, which focused on creativity and self-expression.

"One school is predominantly Christian and the other, Beardwood, predominantly Muslim, and yet the students chose to celebrate similarities, not differences.

"They all spoke of how war flourishes through intolerance. Pupils will learn in history of dates and battles, in geography of borders and land divisions and in literacy of great war poets.

"But in working on Their Past Your Future these students learn something about themselves and communality."

The project saw the young wordsmiths' work hit the public arena as they performed a reading at Blackburn Museum.

Beardwood School pupil, Misbah Shah, 13, said: "It was a lot more lively than normal lessons and I found it interesting. I enjoyed writing a poem about rationing."

Teaching and learning strategy manager at Darwen Vale High School, Claire Redman, was thrilled with the project.

"In history we have looked at the lives of servicemen and women from Blackburn with Darwen and in English we have used poetry instead of text books to allow children to express their individual views.

"It has also helped encourage pupils to develop their poetry," she said.