The world can seem like a safe and familiar sort of place when you're 13 years old and a pupil at the bustling Ashton Park School.

The horrors of war could easily be confined to the grainy photographs in the books during your history lessons and the short verses of the war poets' works in your English class.

But some Year 9 pupils at the south Bristol school have spent the past couple of months getting a greater insight to the real-life experiences of Bristolians from all backgrounds who have found their lives torn apart by conflict.

The 14 pupils have been taking part in a Conflict and the Media project, during which they've been filming a series of interviews with members of the community – from Normandy veterans to those caught up in the current conflicts in the Middle East.

Their films will take their place in the city's historical archive – they will be displayed at the new Museum of Bristol, which is due to open in the Harbourside's former Industrial Museum in 2011.

English and media studies teacher Sean Kaye-Smith, who has been co-ordinating the project, explains: "We were approached by the people at the museum, who wanted to find a way to represent all sections of Bristol's diverse population.

"They put us in touch with a range of Bristolians from different backgrounds to talk to.

"There were members of the city's Jewish community who came here after escaping Nazi Germany as children on the Kindertransport trains, for example. Then there was a chap from Zimbabwe who sought refuge in Bristol because of the danger to his life back in Africa because of the ongoing political situation there.

"The children have talked to a broad selection of interviewees who have settled here after suffering because of war.

"I've been really proud of the way the students have dealt with the interviewees. I think by meeting the actual people who were there when these things were happening, the youngsters have had their eyes opened to the reality of war.

"They've found it really rather emotional," he adds. "I even saw one of our girls pausing during an interview to give one of the interviewees a hug."

The students have been allowed to use space in the University of the West of England's neighbouring Bower Ashton campus, and at Bristol City's Ashton Gate stadium, to carry out the interviews in a quiet setting.

As I meet the youngsters, they're hard at work in the boardroom at Ashton Gate, discussing their experiences over the past couple of months between interviews.

Eilis McEwen, 13, tells me that the most moving part of the experience for her was a meeting with Freidel Hollis, an elderly lady who had been born in Germany and had escaped Nazi persecution by joining the Kindertransport trains, which took young Jews to safety in the late Thirties.

"She was still very emotional about her experiences," Eilis says. "If it hadn't been for the Kindertransport trains, she would have remained in Germany as the Holocaust unfolded."

Fellow student John Box, also 13, says Mrs Hollis' testimony brought the history books to life for him.

"You tend to think about these things having taken place in a world that was different to our own," he says. "It's hard to connect to the people in the old black-and-white photographs. But then when the person is sitting there in front of you, it quickly hits home that these horrible things really happened to real people.

"I was particularly touched when she was explaining the simple little ways in which her experiences have remained with her.

"She told us how she had seen other youngsters get off the train to stretch their legs during brief stops at stations across Europe, and they had been left behind when the train unexpectedly started moving again.

"She said that the image had haunted her every time she had been on a train ever since. She had always wondered what became of those children."

Joe Iles, 14, says he particularly enjoyed interviewing Bert Haddrell, chairman of the Bristol Normandy Veterans Association.

"He explained to us how he landed in occupied Europe on D-Day plus 10, and fought his way through Normandy with his unit.

"He was then caught up in a battle in a strategically important place that the military called Hill 112. He was severely injured in a German mortar attack, and was lucky to survive.

"He told us how he hated war, and that we should try to learn from the mistakes of past generations.

"I think that's one of the most important messages to come out of the whole project."