ACROSS the 11^th  November and the run-up to Remembrance Day, the children and staff at the Downs have been very busy completing activities in honour of those who have served our country in the armed forces, particularly those who have been injured and given their lives and we particularly focused on The First World War as this was the origin of Remembrance Day and the Second World War as this is so important to remember and it is the oldest conflict in living memory.

On Remembrance Day, as well as observing the 2-minutes silence, children completed activities across a range of subjects. In Maths, the children were inspired by famous wartime to code-breakers, secret agents and spies to crack their own ciphers. In English, they were inspired by those writers who had changed people’s ideas about the war and they created their own thoughtful war poetry. In History, they learnt about the vital role animals played in the war, too. In P.E. they learnt what a military obstacle course is like, why members of the armed forces have to be so fit and how to persevere on even through the difficulty of injury. This was all tied together with a special assembly where children learnt about famous war heroes from across the Commonwealth and had the chance to dress up in authentic military uniforms and they watched a poignant video that was made from a photo slideshow of soldiers mixed with photos of the children’s activities. 

On Remembrance Sunday itself, some children from Year 4 formed a choir and performed at the Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance at Harlow Playhouse along with lots of other community groups. The children sang songs from wartime that were meant to give hope and keep people’s morale up – some slow and reflective, others upbeat marching songs. They were very brave, and we are very proud of their Music learning. 

In the week running up to Remembrance, the children took part in an Art and DT project where they made recycled poppies from old plastic bottles. These have been hung on a beautiful Remembrance tree, where we held our silence and put some chairs for children to relax and think. We also conducted our own Remembrance Ceremony there modelled after the one at the Cenotaph with Mod Roc crosses and Mr Calderwood and some of our History Ambassador children standing in for the King and dignitaries. 

It was great for the whole community to be engaged – we also had a visit from John, Margaret and Helen from the local care home who shared their memories of growing up during World War II, whilst other staff shared photos, medals and artefacts from their family history. There were also some children who were members of the Scouts who came in their uniforms. Overall, it has been a great few weeks of learning that the children will all remember and we hope they will remember the important meaning behind these engaging activities.