Remembrance Day Services

Special Remembrance assemblies were held this week to remember those who served and sacrificed.

Primary House Captains led the assembly at Kingarth Street with readings about the Korean War, and why it is known as the Forgotten War. Educating our junior pupils with key facts as why we mark the beginning of the war since no peace treaty was ever signed and giving pupils time to answer questions.

The school choir sang a beautiful rendition of Fields of Gold before our House Captains spoke about service. Telling the story of RAF Pilot, Trevor Edwards, and First Aid Nursing Yeomanry, Florence Wolfe, pupils shared how those in service need to be courageous and selfless. The final reading, Ava’s Poppy by Marcus Pfister, gently told the lifecycle of a flower and was a fitting introduction to our pupils bringing forward their year group poppy wreaths. These beautiful designs were created in class earlier in the week and as pupils laid them at the front of the hall, the choir sang Child of Peace to conclude the assembly before they made their way back to classrooms to reflect on what they had learned.

At our Secondary School our Head Girl and Head Boy, Beth and Henry, and our Depute Head Girl and Depute Head Boy, Diya, and Ansh, gave readings that reflected on the first anniversary of the Armistice that came into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Over 140 men from the school community sadly lost their lives during the ‘Great War’, and readings reflected on some of our Hutchesonians, William Tait Craig, Hutchesons’ Teacher, Alexander Gray and James Spiers, former pupils, and the school’s Cadet Corp with their affiliation to the 7th Battalion Scottish Rifles.

The new archive and museum space within The Buchan Room at Beaton Road has over 30 former pupils featured on the screen. Reading each file takes 1 minute therefore would take over half an hour to read them all, but if we featured all the former pupils who died in WW1 and WW2, then it would take over 6 hours to read through. We continue to research our former pupils to share their stories, but William Tait Craig and Alexander Gray are featured in the museum space. William died on 21 September 1918 and Alexander died on 25 October 1918, both in battle, aged 36 and 22 years old respectively. A sobering thought for our pupils to reflect on.

Our school choir also performed the hymn Eternal Father Strong to Save by William Whiting as well as Locus Iste by Anton Bruckner, followed by words of Remembrance from our Rector, Mr Martin. To mark the end of the assembly, pupils and staff took part in a procession passed the school War Memorial, led by our senior prefects who laid the wreaths.

A two-minute silence was held at both schools as a mark of respect to remember those who have fallen, ending with pipes playing followed by The Last Post.