Why We Remember

Dear Felsted families,

Why do we wear poppies? A question I am asked every year by our youngest pupils who naturally seek answers and allow their curiosity to guide their thoughts.

As children grow and develop, we notice that the number of questions asked can decrease. I would like to appeal to our whole community to encourage curiosity and model the asking of questions so that we can keep the dialogue open, even if we are talking about challenging themes.

As we mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in particular, it is ever more important that we enable our youngest learners to begin to build their understanding of why we remember each year.

During our assembly tomorrow, we will be learning more about the act of remembrance. We will be spending some time thinking about what we will see this weekend and in our Prep School act of remembrance next week and preparing for the silence. Demonstrating respect for all those who gave their lives for our freedoms today is arguably an easier concept to understand for older children. However, our lives have such freedom and are so different from those who have experienced conflict and war, that it can be incredibly hard for us to imagine what that must have been like whatever our age.

For those who would like to have further conversations at home, I would like to share a short but beautiful animation designed for very young children.
 

The question we will be asking of one another is ‘what will you be thinking of during the silence?’ Perhaps this might be a specific person known to you, it may be that you focus on feeling thankful, it may be that you think about the wars that are currently taking place across the world. By allowing children time to prepare for this silence, we help them understand its importance in our lives. 

I would like to extend my thanks to Chris for his words this week and for sharing stories of Old Felstedians who made the ultimate sacrifice. I too will be keeping them in my thoughts and I look forward to being able to join our community in our collective acts of remembrance.

With many warm wishes,

Miranda Norris