I’m back! A week later than planned, but I’m back nonetheless. Life got hectic, parents evening reports needed writing, and Sinead needed sleep!!
I’ve been trying to find something I would like to write about, and that people might find interesting. Yesterday, I went to the Remembrance Parade in our town, and it made me think, as it does every year, about the countless men, (and eventually women), who went to war to fight for us and the countless people who never came home.
Over the past week, I have spent a lot of my time in class talking to the children about Remembrance- about what happened, what is means and why it is so, so, SO important to remember. The children were intrigued, and couldn’t wait to make their thoughts known, and show their own respect to a generation of people they have never met, but who did so much so that we could be free. We made our own poppy field using our thumbprints and wrote poems using the word ‘Hero’. A child has close experience with the army, and they have been a brilliant help to us this week explaining what the army do and their present day experiences of having family in the forces.
Armistice Day began on 11th November 1918, at 11:00am to remember those who had fallen on the battlefields and around the world in WWI. But now Armistice Day also helps us remember those who have fallen in the wars that followed. It is a great opportunity to come together, and think, pray and say thank you as a community around a monument of Remembrance.
There are no longer WWI veterans to tell us their stories. Growing up I remember watching the TV, and seeing the veterans marching down to the Cenotaph in London and as the years passed, there were less and less, until suddenly there were none. One day the same will happen to WWII veterans, and this is why it is so important to keep telling those stories and keep the memories alive.
I worry that one day, the Wars will no longer appear on the curriculum in schools, people will no longer tell the stories, and they will not know the great significance of the poppy. We learnt in primary school about WWII, and in secondary school I went on to learn more about it through History GCSE. We watched so many films (Goodnight Mister Tom is still one of my all time favourite books/films!), read so many first hand stories and saw the devastation it caused through the soldiers eyes. I hope that I am wrong, and the curriculum will remain with the wars on it. I hope that the children for many years to come will experience the same fascination and appreciation, for the war and the soldiers efforts that I did then and still do since leaving school- perhaps even more so.
Every year, this day moves me as I am sure it does many, many people. I am both intrigued about what happened all those years ago, and sad about so many lives being lost in the fields so far from home. However, my overriding emotion is pride. I am proud of the men and women who fought and are still fighting today for a better world tomorrow.
Remembrance clearly means a lot, to a lot of people and judging by the amount of people who turned out to the parade, and have done every year since I can remember, it is going to be a long time before anyone forgets. Our job as parents, teachers, carers, humans is to continue to listen, learn and talk about what our soldiers did and are still doing today so we can have our tomorrow.
#LestWeForget xx
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