Remembrance Day at Upwell Academy is a time to teach our children about the reasons and customs connected with the commemoration of Remembrance Day.
All our staff believe it is important that the children who attend our academy understand that the modern world has been shaped by many events, and one of these is conflict. Conflict, unfortunately, still occurs and we want our children to understand that adults and children in the past have made enormous sacrifices to allow us to have the society where we can make our own choices in the direction of our lives. As a result, we dedicate curriculum time to give the children a greater understanding of the act of remembrance and in so doing assign its importance to our community.
The children in Reception to Year 6 have been busy creating beautiful artwork as part of our Remembrance Week. We are incredibly proud of the beautiful work they have created.
Our aim this week is to channel children's curiosity to allow them to understand that our present freedoms and indeed democracy are as a result of conflicts in the past and the need to defend these against others who would prefer a different type of society which is not as culturally varied or allows individuals the opportunities to make their own decisions.
We paid tribute to the country’s war heroes in a special service for Remembrance, which our Year 5 pupils prepared special reading for. The service also welcomed guest speaker, Warrant Officer Morby-Jones who shared his involvement in the armed forces and what Remembrance means to him.
The Pupil Leadership Team, Pupils from reception class to Year 6, and their parents, joined by Warrant Officer Morby-Jones, our Academy Committee Chairperson, Val Cook and AC member Raine Thorrold for a reflective walk to Upwell’s War Memorial in a fitting remembrance tribute, where they laid the Academy wreath before observing a two-minute silence in memory of those who lost their lives.
A special thank you to Ms Roberts for handcrafting our New Upwell Memorial Wreath. Thank you to our children, parents, carers and wider community for your support in making our event so memorable.