For 100 years Remembrance has reminded us of our shared history and the Legion’s new teaching resources will enable students from all backgrounds and communities to learn about the service and sacrifice of past and present generations. Designed for use in school and at home, pupils can discover how Britain’s national Remembrance traditions have evolved, engage in different community and national commemorations, and be encouraged to imagine what Remembrance might look like for them in the future.

Strengthening an existing line of Remembrance resources, the RBL’s 2021 teaching kits include new assembly plans, whole school projects and stories featuring award-winning authors Terry Pratchett and David Olusoga, each coming with helpful notes for parents and educators. The academic resources will enable students to learn how the poppy has become an enduring symbol of support for our Armed Forces, and can also be used in school assemblies to observe the two-minute silence on 11th November.

Available in English and Welsh, the resources for Key Stages 1-5 are linked to the national curriculum to develop core reading skills and are differentiated for students depending on their age, interests, and ability.

Catherine Davies, Head of Remembrance at The Royal British Legion says: “The RBL’s new Remembrance teaching resources will help children to understand why people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds come together to remember the service and sacrifice of the Armed Forces community. For 100 years Remembrance has been part of the fabric of society and teachers can use these lessons, activities and assemblies to show the next generation why we remember not only those from past conflicts, but those who continue to protect us today.”

Fay Lant, Head of School Programmes at the National Literacy Trust, says: “We are proud to have developed a variety of new teaching resources for schools and parents that offer a range of creative, engaging ways to mark Remembrance. Whether it’s taking part in the book club with stories from authors including Terry Pratchett and David Olusoga, or working with everyone in your school to develop a unique audio time capsule, there’s an activity to get everyone involved in Remembrance.”

The latest Teaching Remembrance Resources include:

• KS5 Understanding Remembrance Assembly: after the success of the KS1-4 Understanding Remembrance assemblies, the RBL has extended the reach of these popular assemblies to KS5 (16-18 years old). These are evergreen resources designed to introduce children to who, how and why we remember.
• KS1-5 2021 Remembrance Assemblies: the Remembrance assemblies engage children in Remembrance through a relevant and accessible annual narrative. In 2021 children and teenagers can explore 100 years of Remembrance through videos of veterans and civilians, learning that Remembrance honours all those who help to protect us.
• KS3 Remembrance Book Club stories: the book club engages children in Remembrance using a storytelling format that children are familiar with at school. The narratives demonstrate that the experiences of others, whether fictional or real, are relevant to our lives today. The book club is based on extracts from a range of authors including Terry Pratchett, Lucy Strange, David Olusoga, Liz Kessler, Tony Bradman, Phil Earle and Elizabeth Wein. The texts explore a range of topics including the experiences of Jewish children in the Second World War, the contribution of African and West Indian people to the war effort and rebuilding of Britain, and the impact of serving in Afghanistan on two brothers. A teacher guide and activity sheets for each extract are also included, featuring discussion questions and glossaries.
• Primary Whole School Project: the RBL’s new Sounds of Remembrance project for primary schools sees children work towards creating an audio time capsule which records the ways people in their community take part in Remembrance. Through a series of sessions children can learn how our national Remembrance traditions have evolved, discuss different community and national Remembrance traditions, and imagine what Remembrance might look like for them in the future.

The Royal British Legion’s free Teaching Remembrance resources can now be downloaded on the RBL’s website here: www.rbl.org.uk/teachingremembrance.

Pupils who attend the school’s lunchtime wellbeing club, an initiative set up by Pastoral Lead Miss Mallalieu, have contributed colourful drawn poppies for the shop’s display window to help spread the important message of Remembrance day whilst the shop remains closed amidst the coronavirus second lockdown.

The school’s wellbeing club is set up to children of all ages and in an effort to get children talking to one another and to promote mental wellbeing, activities ran is the session range from yoga, cognitive learning sessions to reading and writing.

Eden is a florist local to the school based in the village of Uppermill, established by business partners Vicky Newby and Jodie Bhondoo , and is continuing to operation by providing customers with deliveries in response to the last restrictions announced by the Government.

Miss Mallalieu commented: “Teaching the children about British history and Remembrance Day is really important so we thought this was the perfect way for the children to still embrace this yearly event despite the restrictions in place because of the pandemic.

“Not only this, but we also think it is really important to stay connected with the community during these challenging times, so having this display up means we can remain present to everyone without necessarily being able to meet and see people as we usually would.”

Vicky from Eden commented: “We aim to support The British Legion every year and although we can’t welcome customers into store, we still thought it was essential to promote Remembrance Day like any other year.

“We are really pleased the children have got involved and their contribution has put a smile on our faces, and we hope it will do the same to those who walk through the village.”

In a year where the nation marked 75 years since Victory in Europe, Victory over Japan and 70 years since the beginning of the war in Korea, the Legion is also encouraging people to acknowledge the contribution of a new generation of Armed Forces who have responded alongside essential workers on the frontline in the fight against Covid-19.

The Legion’s new resources are designed to help children draw parallels between these modern-day challenges and the Second World War generation, highlighting the significance of Remembrance in today’s world. The resources have been created to provide children with the right level of support and challenge.

As the national champions of Remembrance, the Legion is committed to ensuring that it is understood and available to every child and community in the UK.

Catherine Davies, Head of Remembrance at The Royal British Legion says: “In this unique and challenging year, the Legion wants to support children in understanding why we remember. Our new teaching resources will not only teach children about the significance of remembering those from past conflicts, but also help them discover the relevance of Remembrance to today. The Royal British Legion is committed to making sure the torch of Remembrance is passed on to the next generation, and these resources will play an important role in achieving that.”

Fay Lant, Senior Programme Manager at the National Literacy Trust, says: “This year, the service and sacrifice of front-line workers is more relevant than ever before and taking a moment to pause and think about the people who work and volunteer to look after us seems especially important. As such, and as we also mark 75 years since VE Day, we have created a variety of resources for schools that tell the stories of the Second World War and offer a range of creative ways for pupils to explore Remembrance. Whether it’s taking part in our book club focused on ‘Now or Never’ by Bali Rai, creating a whole school Remembrance radio programme or creating your own work of art as an act of Remembrance, there really is something for everyone.”

The resources, available to download on the Legion’s website, include:

• Assemblies – Key Stage 2 & 3 – Explore and understand what Remembrance has meant and continues to mean to us in 2020. These resources will support children in understanding the relevance of Remembrance in their lives and encourage them to find their own ways to observe it.
• Bitesize Activities – Key Stage 2 & 3 – Designed to provide quick, meaningful activities which relate to both Remembrance as a whole, and through a ‘then and now’ lens.
• Book Club – Key Stage 2 & 3 – Explore Remembrance and themes of ‘Then and Now’ through a popular fiction text, Now or Never by Bali Rai. The resources are tailored to each key stage and include veteran interview films and input from the author himself.
• Primary and Secondary ‘whole school’ resources:
  • Creative Writing – Pupils can engage with Remembrance as they experience and create their own fiction texts. Extracts from Scholastic / The Royal British Legion’s book ‘Home Again’, author top tips and veteran interview films will encourage children to create their own written responses to past and present events.
  • Art Exhibition – This resource is designed to explore, understand, and express feelings about Remembrance in this unique year through creativity. By engaging with a range of stimulus such as painting, sculpture and music, children will explore the relationship between the experiences of children then and now.

The resources are available to download now at: rbl.org.uk/teachingremembrance

Simon Kinder, Gresham’s Head of History who has been involved in the project, explains: “The names were omitted either as a result of having only been discovered more recently, thanks to further research, or as a result of the students and staff members having moved away to other schools and institutions and therefore being included on memorials elsewhere. Some of the missing names were initially discovered by our former Deputy Head, Sue Smart, who published a poignant book about the fallen – When Heroes Die – in 2001. The book, which was reprinted in 2014, gives our school a connection with our past that few other schools are likely to have, and for that we are incredibly grateful to Sue.

“Building on Sue’s findings, I undertook further research, comparing our original school registers with the CWGC database, newspaper archives and family history and military online resources,steered by our school archivist Liz Larby. Committed to the philosophy that archives need to be educationally relevant, Liz has supported every aspect of our wider centenary project since 2014, including leading a group of student researchers every Friday afternoon in the task of creating profiles of the fallen men, all of which can be found in the Roll of Honour section of our dedicated WWI Memorial Website.”

The combination of staff and student efforts has resulted in the school discovering 15 names – the original memorial board depicted 99 students and one member of staff and the school now knows the names of 112 students and three members of staff – which will be included on the new memorial board. The largest donation towards the £8,000 needed for the new stone was given by the Gresham’s Foundation, with further support received from the Old Greshamiam Club and wider school community. A special effort was made by former Director of Music at Gresham’s, Angela Dugdale, for organising a WWI concert, 1914-1918 Never Such Innocence, Gresham’s at War in words and music. Proceeds from the concert, alongside £10 sales of a CD recorded in the school’s Fishmongers’ Recital Room by Robert FitzGerald, with tenor Christopher Barnes and pianoforte Philip Adam titled We do not forget, were donated to the memorial stone fund.

Gresham’s Headmaster, Douglas Robb, said: “In a service held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Chapel, in 2016, we remembered that the building stands as a memorial to those from the school community whose lives began here but were tragically cut short by war. The Roll of Honour of the 115 fallen students and staff was read out and, for each name, a member of the school’s current Combined Cadet Force solemnly left the building. The empty seats portrayed a haunting image to those present. As part of our four year focus on the centenary, we have paused and remembered each one of our fallen, as close as we can to the centenary of their death, with specially commissioned paper lanterns lit as a symbol of Hope and Peace, and 115 stories told since the project began in 2014.

“The City of Peace stained glass window bears the inscription “They whom this window commemorates were numbered among those who, at the call of King and Country, left all that was dear to them, endured hardness, faced danger and finally passed out of the sight of men by the path of duty and sacrifice, giving up their lives that others may live in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten.” I am so thankful to our students, to Simon and Liz, to Sue, and everyone else who has supported this project. It gives all of us such a tangible way to mark the centenary of the end of the Great War, as well as a renewed determination to play our part in maintaining peace.”