Shortly before the Christmas holidays, our Year 9 students took part in a workshop and guided tour organised by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The students are currently exploring aspects of the First World War, and this was a superb opportunity to look at how the war impacted on the local community by examining the graves of those who were buried in St Luke’s cemetery, just a 15 minutes walk away from school.

After being shown how to access the CWGC database by Megan and Sarah, each student undertook research into just one of the men. We then spent a morning at the cemetery, ably guided by Sarah, and students shared their findings with the other students. A visit to a cemetery is always a fascinating way for students to reflect on the past, and we also found graves belonging to Victorian children and to a teenage girl who died with her father during the Blitz. While our usual visit to the Battlefields of the First World War might not be possible this year, the CWGC did a great job of encouraging the students to reflect on ideas of loss and commemoration, and the local connections made it all the more powerful.

In upcoming events, we are looking forward to our A Level students sharing a workshop with Dr Vanda Wilcox to support their study of Mussolini’s Italy, and Sir Bob Neill MP will be chatting to our Politics students. Mrs Grant will also be presenting a series of videos on ‘This Week In History’ for all year groups, starting with the origins of Martin Luther King Day, and the Year 13s are working on an assembly for Holocaust Memorial Day.

We are also beyond excited to be welcoming David Olusoga as part of the Minerva Lecture series. A huge thank you to Miss Nicholls for organising the event.