Boys’ Battlefields Trip

23 May 2019 09:40
Published by: Daniel Almond

 

At a breakfast and assembly, parents and pupils at Bolton School Junior Boys’ School enjoyed a fascinating insight into a recent Y5 and Y6 boys’ Belgian battlefields trip.

The review was given, via the spoken word and a slideshow, by the pupils who attended the trip and took the audience through the busy three-day visit during the Easter holidays. The audience learnt how the boys had sought out and found the names of former pupils who lost their lives in the Great War and whose names were inscribed on the memorials at the Menin Gate; they then laid a wreath and watched the moving Last Post Ceremony. Earlier in the afternoon, they had visited the informative Flanders Field Museum in Ypres.  The boys told how, the next day, they had visited the Passchendaele Memorial Museum where they enjoyed a hands-on experience exploring the dugouts and trenches, before visiting the Tyne Cot British Cemetery, which they described using the words “solemn, humbling, sad, sunny, inspirational, enormous and mixed emotions”. Moving on to the town of Poperinge they enjoyed lunch before visiting the Death Cells and Execution Post behind the Town Hall. At the Essex Farm Cemetery, where John McCrae wrote ‘In Flanders Fields’, Patrick and Ayaan recited the poem beautifully and Harry left a poignant message in the visitors’ book. Their last visit, on this unforgettable experience, was to the Hooge Crater Museum. The pupils even enjoyed a little evening relaxation, going ten pin bowling and watching the Barcelona v Man Utd game on television.

Mr Morris, who organised and led the event, said: “I was very proud of the boys, who showed maturity, respectful behaviour and reflective interest throughout the entire trip.”

Head of School, Mrs Faulkner: “The boys and staff had a great time and the visit proved a wonderful way to bring learning from the classroom to life and a great example of ways staff enrich the curriculum at Bolton School.”

 

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