Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary of State for Education, opened the event by remembering the contributions of soldiers from all backgrounds and reiterated the importance of learning lessons from the past to help make the best impact on the diverse society we have today. Nine of our students, aged from 10-17, then presented short biographies and important statistics regarding the contributions made by African, Asian, Caribbean and Gypsy Roma traveller soldiers during the First World War.
In addition, students from Pimlico Academy in London who participate in our programmes were among an audience which included over one hundred senior education personnel, VIP guests and at least six high-ranking military personnel. They were all there to listen to the moving stories of how Servicemen and women served our country throughout history, up to, and including, the present day. They also heard what it is like to be a minority serviceman today from other current servicemen.
Following the event, our students viewed exhibits from the Imperial War Museum and were privileged to meet Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools, and Shona Dunn, Director General for Education Standards, alongside Chris Wormald and high-ranking serving officers in the army. We were also delighted to have been able to display on our stand artefacts loaned to us by our partners at Firepower, The Royal Artillery Museum, amongst which were replicas of the uniforms which would have been worn by the servicemen in the case studies read by our students.
Afterwards, we took the opportunity to go and see the ceramic poppies at the Tower of London and admire the spectacular tribute to fallen servicemen from World War One. One of our students said that it “was a really brilliant day” and another that they “will never forget it”.
"Outdoor learning is giving them back their childhood wonder and curiosity at new things, allowing them to experience the marvel of discovery and the learning that comes from taking risks"
