Oakley Vale Primary School held a special Remembrance assembly for parents that they repeated for the entire school. They had been studying World War One as a topic for weeks. Teacher Julie Clarke said: ‘In class we have explored some background to World War One and, in particular, life in the trenches. Also we looked at the other groups that helped during the war and the roles of women, children, artists, pioneers and the Commonwealth. In class the students wrote some amazing haikus about trench warfare and thank you letters to different groups of people.

In assembly we displayed lots of students’ artwork including a mannequin that we transformed into a poppy man. The children recited Dulce et Decorum Est, For the Fallen and Flanders Fields and there was also some drama and freeze frame work.

‘In previous years the children have focused more on World War Two and the Blitz but with the Armistice Centenary this year we wanted to make sure that we had a really big focus on Remembrance and World War One.’

Teacher Jacob Toye said: ‘Throughout the drama and things they have done the students have realised that this was real life and they dealt with the topic in such a mature and respectful manner.’