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Church of England Junior School

Centenary of the Battle of the Somme

As part of our work on Remembrance we have been looking at the Battle of the Somme for this year's Remembrance Day. The Battle of the Somme began on the 1st July and ended on the 18th November 1916. On the first day of the battle over 19,000 British soldiers lost their lives and over the period the battle lasted ove 1.1 million soldiers on both sides lost their lives.

'As day breaks through wind and rain we form a line on rough terrain, to face a foe we’ll never know, we will fall and die where poppies now grow. Remember us the chosen ones, the lads the dads and someone’s sons. Be not sad, just be glad, knowing we gave all we had. As you walk on our fields of doom, places where our bodies were strewn, we will gaze on you through heaven’s door and hope our words stay for evermore. When you leave save a tear, for here we stay year on year, the lads the dads and someone’s sons, the boys who fell before German guns.'

Dave Callaghan

Taken from the wall of remembrance at www.somme-battlefields.com

In our Act of Worship on the 7th November (see the document below) we looked at some of the fact about the battle and the imp[ortance that we remember them as well as being a hopeful community and considering that if we all work together we can learn from history and make our world a more peaceful place.

On Friday the 11th of November the school once again marked the two minute silence joining those who gathered in Trafalgar Square through the power of live-streaming. Then on Remmbrance Sunday pupils from both our school and the infants laid wreaths at the memorials at St Mary's Church and in the town centre on behalf of all of the children.