Students and staff from Brownhills Ormiston Academy came together for an annual Remembrance Day Service to remember the sacrifice of the Armed Forces community with a reflective service and wreath-laying.
Those who took part in the remembrance service included all staff and students from the school, representatives from the Armed Forces, school governors, and the executive central team from the trust. Alongside this, representatives from the Royal British Legion, the British charity which supports serving Armed Forces, their families, and veterans that played a central part of the service, and the local MP for Aldridge-Brownhills, Wendy Morton, who attedned to pay her respects with the local community.
The event was particularly significant as many Brownhills students have close relatives who have been involved or affected by conflicts, with the service providing an important opportunity for all those remembering to show the respect they feel for these brave men and women who have upheld our freedoms.
Those in attendance gathered in the academy’s sports hall to hear poems and readings which honour all those who have given their lives to defend peace and freedom. In a day that looks to peace and hope, the academy showed an emotional film to remind all present of the sacrifice made and still being made today by those in the armed services.
Alongside students from the Combined Cadet Force, Mr Stevens, a music teacher at the academy, played the Last Post, one of the most distinctive military bugle calls which signifies the end of end of the day’s activities and is sounded at military funerals to indicate that the soldier has gone to his final rest. The service closed with local cadets taking the salute and escorting wreaths to the memorial plaque in the Remembrance Quad, which remembers the names of former Brownhills students who died in the First World War.
Ross Doodson, assistant principal said: “This is truly Brownhills Ormiston Academy at its best; students, staff and members of our community coming together to pay their respects, and honour those that have lost their lives in conflict. We are very proud to uphold this tradition.”