Armistice Day Commemorations at Peregrines Nursery and Falcons School for Girls

Pupils from Nursery to Year 6 have commemorated the Armistice Centenary with a variety of dedicatory activities finishing with a poignant service at St Margaret’s Church, Putney.

Children throughout the school have engaged with projects across the curriculum to mark the momentous occasion. Budding-artists got creative using a mix of media from poster paint finger print wreaths in Reception, to Pointillism themed landscapes in Year 6.

On a trip back in time, all pupils were encouraged to take part in an oral history project at home to discover what their great grandparents and neighbours did in the two world wars. Zosia,  who is Polish discovered her relatives had been members of the Polish resistance hiding a Jewish family, Charlotte who is French learnt of her Great Grandfather being awarded the honourable Croix de Guerre, Lola who is English enjoyed looking at her Great Grandfather’s medals, and Jenna who is Australian found out about a number of her Great Uncles serving in the Middle East and New Guinea.

Following their homework, pupils returned to school excited to share their findings with each other which also emphasised the cultural diversity in the school and highlighted how different the relationships between countries are now to then.

Further excitement came when a parent visited the school to share with Year 6 diaries that were written by her Grandfather during the First World War. The girls were fascinated to read extracts from the diaries and to physically touch something that had been in the trenches.

To conclude the commemorative activities, the Year 6 girls presented a moving Remembrance Service for the Falcons pupils and their parents, which saw touching renditions of songs including Pack Up Your Troubles, And When they Ask us (from Oh! What a Lovely War), and stunning recitations of poems; The Signaller’s Vision by Ivor Gurney and The General, by Siegfried Sassoon.

After the service the whole school came together in a circle in the Peregrines garden to share two minutes silence.

Headmistress Sara Williams-Ryan commented: “The pupils have enjoyed immersing themselves in the different Remembrance projects, whilst not forgetting the reason for which they are doing so. The Remembrance Service by our Year 6 pupils was a beautiful display and a very moving tribute to mark the Centenary.

“It is important that we teach our children traditional British values and provide them with the opportunities to learn such a poignant part of British history, particularly for such a significant occasion.”