The school was delighted to also welcome representatives of the Normandy Veterans’ Association and the Royal British Legion, along with members of the local community.
 
Each year RHSC students join the German and Belgian pupils on a trip to the First World War battlefields and the cemeteries around Ypres, an experience which they find extremely moving and through which close friendships are forged. Tears are shed at the end of each visit when goodbyes are said.
 
Leeanne Reid, religious education teacher at RHSC school, who has been involved in organising both the trip and the service for several years, said: “This trip to the World War One battlefields is not just a trip anymore. It’s a project that is part of who we are and part of our culture at Reepham.
 
“It’s also a project that is multidimensional. It’s not just about history; it’s about peace, citizenship, a trip where friendships are made, not just ordinary everyday friendships, but global friendships.
 
“It is a trip where we all walk side by side with our German and Belgian friends, learning about how our ancestors fought against each other and hoping never have to [again].”
 
Ms Reid explained that the aim of the service is not only to remember, but also to educate future generations that international co-operation and friendships can help to avoid war.
 
The Service of Remembrance included words written by the pupils as a response to their trip to Belgium:
 
 
Menin Gate
 
As we walked up to the Menin Gate
I suddenly felt small
Name upon name
All stood tall.
 
Each name for a person
Each name for a life
Each name for a son
Life upon life.
 
Standing there, seeing all those names, walking up to lay the wreath with another German student, made me realise that all these names, these hundreds of names, weren’t just a number on a sheet, but he was a son, a brother, a husband to someone, someone out there. They were important to someone, but that name meant they were lost, never to be seen and give joy to that person again.
 
Now we have a responsibility, to remember and respect. The responsibility to remember and reflect. To remember, lest we forget.
 
By Luke Groom
 
 
In the start there was no noise
All peace and no war
And at the break of dawn
We wake up to alarms, they woke to the sound of gunfire
Now they care more about the life of their battery than the life of a real person.
 
These days they worry more about their likes, back then they worried more about losing their life
If only people would realise the reality of war
If only they knew that war isn’t just a simulation
A reality for the last generation
Dulce bellum inexpertis (war is sweet to those who have never fought).
 
By Patrick Rounce