St Richard's pupils visit Flanders battlefields

The trip has become an annual event run by the Humanities department.

Stephen Calladine-Evans, Assistant Principal and trip organiser, said: "The aim of the visit is to give our pupils the opportunity to experience more vividly the enormous sacrifice of the Great War generation."

The St. Richard's group visited the award winning museum in Ypres that dramatically explains the impact of the First World War on the town and the Flanders region.

Each pupil followed an interactive experience within the museum in which they follow the story of their own real character through the period from 1914 to 1918. Many of the characters do not live to see the end of the war.

Next on the day's itinerary was a walk to the Menin Gate from where many of the young men from Britain and the empire marched out towards Passendale.

The pupils learned about the context of the Gate and the reasons why the people of Ypres still mark each evening with a minute of silence at that spot. The breathtaking experience of witnessing the names of so many whose remains were not recovered had a great impact on the young people. William Bartlett, one of the pupils on the trip, managed to find the name of a family member who died on the battlefield. He said: "Seeing the name of a member of my own family engraved on the monument was very moving."

The final part of the day was a time of reflection and a chance to pay their respects. The pupils laid a wreath and spent some time in prayer at the foot of the cross of sacrifice at the Tyne Cot cemetery. From Tyne Cot, the St. Richard's group went on to the German cemetery of Langemark. In common with many schools and groups visiting the site, the St. Richard's pupils laid a wreath here too, offering prayers for all victims of war and thanks that former enemies are now allies.