Warlingham Village pupils pay personal respects to war dead

​Pupils at Warlingham Village Primary School paid their own Remembrance Weekend respects last week as they took part in a ceremony at a local church to commemorate the contribution of Britain’s war dead.

Students from Year Six had been looking at the historical background and symbolism of the poppy as the sign of remembrance, before taking part in a service at nearby All Saints Church, whose grounds contain 22 graves of casualties of war.

The school, a member of the GLF Schools multi-academy trust, which was declared Outstanding by its most recent Ofsted inspection, has its own memorial to pupils who were killed in World War 1. This was blessed as part of the service, before commemorations moved on to the churchyard, where pupils scattered 22 poppies in memory of the servicemen buried there.

“Remembrance Day is obviously very important to everyone but is particularly keenly felt at Warlingham Village because of our own memorial,” said headteacher Geoff Green.

“It’s hugely educational and significant for the children to be able to part of the local commemorations, as seeing the graves there really brings home the significance of what happened, so it was particularly pleasing for the children to have a chance to talk to some of the World War Two veterans who took part in the ceremony.