BUDDING historians from Avon Valley School have gained a new insight into the First World War on a battlefield tour to Belgium.
Dominic Evans from Year 9 and Year 10 student Harriet Lawrence were chosen to go on the trip after winning an essay writing competition organised by the school’s history department.
The four night residential, delivered by the UCL Institute of Education, forms part of a nationwide programme to give students the chance to visit battlefields on the Western Front.
The students visited the Lijssenthoek and Caterpillar Valley cemeteries which are maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, along with a visit to the commission’s largest cemetery, Tyne Cot.
They also explored the Passchendaele Memorial Museum, Langemark German Cemetery, St George’s Memorial Church and the Thiepval Memorial.
And at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres, Harriet was selected to lay a wreath alongside Alison Rose, the UK’s ambassador to Belgium.
Harriet was selected to lay a wreath alongside Alison Rose, the UK’s ambassador to Belgium, at the Last Post Ceremony at the Menin Gate in Ypres.
The school’s subject leader for history Richard Hartland, who accompanied the students on the trip, said: “I was really impressed with the essays that Harriet and Dominic wrote; they both study history and thoroughly deserved to go on the trip.
“Having the opportunity to visit these sites and handle artefacts from the Great War has given them an excellent insight into the subject.”
Head teacher Alison Davies said: “This has been a wonderful opportunity for Dominic and Harriet which has allowed them to learn about the First World War and to see its consequences first hand. I am sure that they will remember this trip for a long time to come.”
