Students from Shireland Collegiate Academy travelled to France and Belgium to visit key First World War battlefields and memorials, exploring the realities of the conflict and the legacy it left behind.
The itinerary included the Thiepval Memorial, Vimy Ridge Memorial, Beaumont-Hamel, Ulster Tower, Lochnagar Crater, Sanctuary Wood and Tyne Cot Cemetery. Each site offered a different perspective on the war, from the landscapes where soldiers fought, to the memorials and cemeteries that commemorate those who never returned home.
For students, the visit offered a perspective on the First World War that textbooks alone cannot provide. Walking through former battlefields and seeing the scale of the cemeteries brought the history of the conflict into focus, prompting reflection on the lives behind the names, the decisions made during the war and the consequences that continued long after the fighting ended.
School Principal, Thomas Daly, said: “At Shireland, we want our students to do more than learn and recall facts. We want them to question, make connections and develop their own understanding of the world around them. Experiences like this give students the chance to take what they have studied in the classroom and examine it in a completely different context.
“Standing on these battlefields makes the people and events behind the history much harder to see as distant or abstract. It gives students something meaningful to think about, discuss and carry forward into their future learning.”
The visit formed part of the Academy’s wider commitment to giving students opportunities to extend their learning beyond the classroom and engage directly with the history that continues to shape the world today.