History studies prompted youngsters to commemorate soldiers

PUPILS laid wreaths to the memory of killed servicemen and women at a Remembrance Day service last week.

The children from Hackney Free and Parochial Secondary School in Paragon Road attended the service on Thursday (November 11), also known as Armistice Day at St John at Hackney Church, in Dalston Lane, Hackney, and laid wreaths at the church’s war memorial afterwards.

Year nine students have been studying the First World War in their history lessons and this prompted them to pay tribute to the five million people who died in the conflict.

Head of history Stuart Bennett said “At the time the 1914-18 war was described as the war to end all wars. Sadly we know that this was not the case. The level of suffering soldiers in the trenches had a big impact on the students.”

Father Rob Wickham, who led 300 children, aged 11 to 14, and staff in prayers said: “When a school celebrates its 490th birthday, remembering becomes a key, so it was a great privilege to welcome several hundred children from Hackney Free to mark Armistice Day. The children laid wreaths, observed the two minutes silence and reflected on the lives of the young people who lost their lives in World War One, not to mention more recent wars. You could sense the students embracing the fact that peace has to be the way forward.”