Remembrance Day at Park Street

This week every class has been learning about the importance of Remembrance Day and why we celebrate such a special day.

We came together in a special assembly and learnt about the history of the poppy and why the poppy is used as a representation. We spoke about why we have minutes silence, where this began and why we still do it today. We also thought about how important that reflection time was as a way of showing our gratitude for people that are still supporting their country and us today.

Each class have taken part in Special activities to reflect this and produced some amazing work.

Children in Team HG loved sharing their knowledgeable stories of significant people in their families who played a part in the war effort.  It was amazing to hear of all the amazing people that they knew of in their families, who played such significant parts in the war.  They decided they will always be eternally grateful for their courageousness and love for their country.

Team CW created some poppies after learning about why they are significant and why it is important we wear them and remember. The children used different materials and different textures to create their poppies and wore them with pride. They also watched a story about animals and how their life changed when soldiers came. They learnt about different emotions and that when things change our emotions can change too, and that we can feel lots of different emotions at once, just like soldiers might have felt. The children could see the animals were "happy", "safe" and "excited" before the soldiers came and after they left. They then said they felt "scared", "terrified", "worried" and "frightened" when the soldiers arrived. Everyone thought soldiers were very brave.

In Team DB the children looked at different PowerPoints in regard to the history of Remembrance Day and why it is commemorated each year. The children also began to develop their understanding as to why it is the poppy that is worn, reading the poem In Flanders Fields, and how the poet saw the poppy growing between the graves which inspired some of the lines in the poem. We also looked at how it is not only people that are remembered but also animals too and the importance of animals during the First World War and the Second World War.  
The children created a poppy in their Art lesson this week to create a poppy wreath in class, as well as doing colouring activities during Incredible Us! time to reflect.

Team JD have watched a video reciting the ‘Flander’s Field’ poem, read through an information PowerPoint explaining the reasoning and symbolism of poppies and remembrance, observed a 2-minute silence at the eleventh hour. Team JD also created a poppy collage and decorated the class window for parents and children to see as they walk past.

Team CH have spent the afternoon thinking about people that have helped us. People such as solders, doctors, nurses, firefighters and paramedics.  They talked about Mervyn Kersh a solider who fought in the second world war, Nicole Brown who is part of the Royal Navy and Joan Bunn who was a firefighter during the second world war. They also looked at other ways of remembrance such as visiting the Sikh War Memorial, wearing a poppy and holding a minute silence.