Primary schools unite in remembrance

​Students from six West Norfolk primary schools got together to mark the recent time of remembrance with a special performance in front of an audience including veterans from the armed forces.

---

Some 120 children took part in the event on Tuesday (15), when the entertainment comprised wartime classic songs including Good-By-ee, We’ll Meet Again and Don’t Dilly Dally. There was also a recital of poems such as Rupert Brook’s The Soldier and In Flanders Fields by Dr John McCrae.

The young performers, from Years 4 to 6 at their respective schools, took part in what was only the third staging of the West Norfolk Academies Trust Primaries Remembrance Performance, which began in 2018 but was forced to miss two years due to the pandemic.

The participating schools are all members of the Trust, which hosted the event, and included Clenchwarton Primary, West Lynn Primary, Snettisham Primary, Heacham Junior, Heacham Infants, Walpole Cross Keys Primary, and Gaywood Primary. 

Held at Springwood High School, also a Trust member, the evening of remembrance was attended by 300 parents, as well as the Mayor of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Lesley Bambridge, members of the WNAT Board of Trustees, and other dignitaries.

The guests of honour at the performance were 15 Royal British Legion war veterans and widows, who were also invited to a pre-show reception.

Hayley Roberts, Director of Engagement at the Trust said: “The Primaries Remembrance Performance sees six primaries from our Trust coming together to perform narration, poetry and songs for remembrance.

“Each school has its own song, narration and poetry, but they all come together at the beginning and end for narration and singing.

“It began in 2018 as a one-off to mark the centenary of World War One ending, but it was so successful that we said we must do it every year – but we only did 2019, and then it was cancelled for two years because of Covid.It’s our flagship event for the Trust and the community.”