Bishop Luffa falls silent for the Armistice

At 11am the whole School fell silent for 2 minutes to mark the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.

Each year we come together as a School community to pause and reflect, and to mark Armistice Day, and this year was no different.  At a few minutes before 11.00am the School met on the field for a formal service of commemoration, led by Mr Hindman.  Readings were heard from our chaplain, Father Phillip Amey, still himself in the naval reserves, and from School Captains, Aaron and Matilda.  Mr Bonney read the Kohima Epitaph.

The two minutes silence at 11.00am was bookended by Last Post and Reveille, superbly played by Freddie Lynas (assisted by Mrs Bowen-Melfi), on a bugle from the First World War. The sound of these notes cutting through the air gave us a solemn reminder of why we pause and reflect.

Wreathes were also laid on behalf of the School by Mr Bonney and the School Captains.  A guard of honour made up of students who serve in unformed organisations (coordinated by Year 13 student, Zoe Smyth) helped complete the picture of formal commemoration).  The service also included the release of 20 white doves by members of our International Team, as a symbol of hope for the future, as well as a poem for peace read by Veronika Zavarzina (Year 12).

We finished with Aaron blowing a whistle from the First World War trenches. Along with the bugle, we had a tangible link to those who served in that terrible conflict, and heard sounds that echoed across the battlefields, a poignant way to help the School to mark this important moment of national commemoration.

The students behaved extremely well, and clearly understood why this moment of coming together really mattered.

Edward Knott (13Ridgeway) did an amazing job of recording the event on his drone and has put together a video of the event. 

My thanks must go to all of those who helped make the service run so smoothly, including Mrs Christopher, the Site Team, Mr Green and Mr Brown, Mrs Lopez-Gamero, Mrs Cooke and the International team, Father Phillip, Miss Sutton, Mr Hindman and Mrs Fowles (who linked us up with the team that provided the doves). Thanks also to all of the students who spoke to so clearly in this very special event. Teamwork makes such events run smoothly, and today illustrated that perfectly.

Mr Justin Barnett, Head of Humanities