Wick pupils dress up to recall sobre days of war

White Meadows Primary Academy, in Whitelea Road, held a service on Armistice Day which included the laying of a poppy wreath and a citation.

Head teacher Yvonne Brailsford said it was important for the children to understand.

“We wanted the children to learn the significance of World War One and what life was like at home and at war.

“Because it was the 100th anniversary we decided to have all the children from nursery right through to Year-six take part.

“To help them learn about the war, pupils and staff dressed up like those from 1914.

“We held a service with poems and one of the teachers played on the bugle horn, and then we did the two minute silence.”

To honour those fallen in the war, pupils created their own individual poppies to mark the event.

“Our in-house artist Nic Naish helped the year six children build a very large-scale model of the Cenotaph and we invited a representative from REAch2 Academy Trust, Steve Lancashire,” she said.

Founded in 2012, REAch2 Academy Trust is the largest primary-only academy trust in the country.

It is a growing charitable organisation currently supporting 35 primary academies, including White Meadows.

“Each child made a poppy and we planted them,” added Mrs Brailsford.

Children were taught about the events of the war and the people affected as part of their curriculum.

“The curriculum was co-ordinated by teacher and head of the curriculum Jan Baker,” said Mrs Brailsford. “She organised a lot of our visits to the Littlehampton Museum, so children could see the war exhibition.”

Pupils and staff were not the only ones in attendance at the Remembrance service.

“We have work going on and the builders came and sat at the back,” said Mrs Brailsford.

“The children were very well-behaved. They were silent for the two minutes because they understood what was going on.

“It was a proud moment for our school.

“I thank the staff and pupils for putting in so much hard work to bring it all together,” she added.