Worthing High School students in unique remembrance visit to The Cenotaph

Worthing High School was one of only three secondary schools in the United Kingdom invited to lay two wreaths at Saturday’s ceremony at The Cenotaph.

James Oram, head of history at Worthing High School, said: “It was a great privilege to be part of the event remembering those who gave their lives for our democratic freedoms and way of life.

"I am immensely proud of our students who were invited to attend as a consequence of being successful in the Western Front Association’s Malcolm Doolin Award for local history research.

"The students really valued the experience. I also would like to thank Worthing Museum who helped our students research Worthing in WW1. It was really interesting for our students to find out about where they live and it enabled them to investigate drawing on their previous WW1 historical knowledge and understanding.

"Once again, we are extremely grateful to the Western Front Association for allowing our students the opportunity to experience such a poignant event, one which they will remember for the rest of their lives.”

Head boy Charlie Fisher said it was ‘incredible to see the amount of respect’ people were showing during the service.

He added: “It was striking that even the younger generation had a good awareness about the sacrifices that had be made for them.”

Head girl Millie Harper-Bailey added: “It was a really moving experience seeing a mixture of generations reflecting together. The event felt very

emotional.”

Headteacher Pan Panayiotou said it was a ‘huge honour and privilege’ for the students from Worthing High School to be ‘given the the opportunity to represent young people from England’.

Worthing High School said it has a ‘strong relationship’ with the Western Front Association and the work it does in ensuring that the serving personnel, both past and present, and the ‘ultimate sacrifice that they make is never forgotten’.

"These events help us to reflect on who we are and our place in society and the world and become even more important at times when there is such uncertainty around the world,” a school spokesperson said.

"Again it was a huge honour and privilege and the young people of Worthing High School were outstanding representatives.”