Students at Heart of England School commemorated the anniversary of Armistice Day on Monday.
The event involved live singing from a school choir, a two-minute silence and the Last Post which was broadcast live to the whole school from our radio studio and heard in every classroom and on every computer. Teachers were able to connect to the sound systems in each room so everyone could hear it.
At a few minutes to 11 o’clock, the choir of about forty students began to perform Remember accompanied on the piano by student Rosie. Immediately afterwards there was an observation of two minutes of silence. The event was concluded by Year 11 student Becky playing the Last Post beautifully on the cornet. Becky has just earned a place with a scholarship at Chetham’s School of Music where she wants to study orchestral music.
The choir sang with lots of feeling and with very subtle changes in tone; a flawless rendition of the remembrance song which was totally appropriate to the event, bringing out the meaning of the words.
Armistice day commemorates the end of hostilities on the Western Front of World War I and is commemorated on 11 November every year which this year fell on a Sunday. Many countries around the world observe this day as a Day of Remembrance of those who died in this conflict and other conflicts since the first World War. The 11 November 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Armistice which came into effect at 11am and was the official end of the first World War.
Afterward, the principal Miss Hughes-Williams came to the studio to tell the students how moving the event was. “You could hear a pin drop!” she said about the silence and focus of everyone listening. “The piece you sang was everywhere throughout the whole school. I couldn’t be more proud of your contribution.”