SCHOOLS NEWS
VALLEY pupils travelled more than 500 miles to the First World War battlefield sites of Belgium and France.
As part of their history course, 38 students from Alder Grange School took part in a four-day trip to pay their respects to those who fought for our country.
The Year 10 pupils visited the Menin Gate in Ypres, where Rhea Kellar , Laurence Whittingham and Minazue Rahman laid the school wreath at the Last Post ceremony.
They also visited Tyne Cot Cemetery and remembered Private Peter Hullans, the grandfather of the school’s former headteacher Iain Hulland. They went to First World War trenches, the Hooge Crater Museum and the Sunken Lane, a staging area for British troops before they went ‘over the top’ into No Man’s Land.
Shumel Haydar, assistant curriculum leader for humanities, who organised the trip, said: “This is the school’s third battlefields visit, yet each time it’s been an emotional, eye- opening event.
“We located the final resting places of a number of soldiers from Rawtenstall, some who lived just a stone’s throw away from our school.
“This experience will live forever in the memories of the students. Thanks to Steven Jolly, our tour guide, who is an encyclopaedia of knowledge and a true gent. We are in the process of arranging a date for the next trip.”
Pupil Jack Shiers said: “Unless you go out there, you cannot fully understand the enormity of this war.
“This trip is a once in a lifetime opportunity, it should be made compulsory.”