This week at Tanworth classes have focussed on Remembrance and what it means. Over the course of the week classes have been delving into history to discover why we still remember 103 years after the end of WWI. Nursery and Reception have been busy painting poppies and wreaths, whilst Year 1 made a trip to the War memorial on the village green so they could see where our act of Remembrance takes place. Year 2 have developed their historical knowledge further by focussing on a significant individual from Britain’s past.  Sir Walter Tull was the first black professional footballer and is still remembered at Tottenham Hotspur, the club he played for. But he wasn’t just a footballer, he was also the first black officer in the British army, sadly he died fighting in the Battle of the Somme. Year 3 and 4 have been looking at soldiers closer to home and visited the war memorial to find out the names of the men who died from Tanworth during WWI.  Year 3 looked at where some of these men lived and mapped out their timelines on a map of the local area, whilst Year 4 created a Remembrance trail of Tanworth so people can visit the significant places in the village linked to WWI. These places include the White House, Whalebone Cottage, the war memorial and the churchyard. In Year 5, they have been busy looking at the role of soldiers from the Commonwealth and how they also fought in the war. Our wonderful Year 6 have also been working incredibly hard not only focussing on why we have different coloured poppies but also writing poems and prayers for our Remembrance Service.

The learning didn’t stop with the classes and the taught curriculum however, on Monday after school The History Detectives also visited the War memorial to complete a conditions survey on the state of the memorial.  This has now been sent to the War Memorials Trust for their records so they know what sort of condition the Tanworth memorial is in. They also went in search of the three war graves in the churchyard, we found one WWI war grave, belonging to George Vince who died at the age of 19 and two WWII war graves, one of which belonged to a Battle of Britain pilot.  KS2 were also extremely fortunate to be able to attend an assembly on Tuesday lead by a volunteer, David Price, from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  David was able to explain to the children in an informative and engaging way what the Commonwealth War Graves Commission is, what they do and why they are important.  He also told the story behind the war graves of Tanworth. On Wednesday, our amazing school choir visited Warwick Arts Centre and performed a Remembrance piece called ‘The Armed Man’ alongside other schools, a professional choir and orchestra in a concert for Remembrance! It was an amazing performance where all the children sang their hearts out and I’m sure will be remembered by all children and parents who attended.   Finally, Remembrance week culminated on Thursday 11^th November with our traditional Remembrance Service.  It was wonderful to be able to hold the traditional service this year and Year 6 did a fantastic job of leading the service for the rest of the school, reading their poems and prayers and helping Reception class to lay their poppies on the War Memorial.