Our whole school community came together to pay their respects to those who gave their lives in service to their country.
Two Remembrance Services were held on November 10th to enable pupils and staff from Nursery through to Sixth Form to commemorate Armistice Day.
At Acremont Nursery and Pre-Prep, children and staff paid their respects with an outdoor Remembrance Service in the garden. There was a two-minute silence, poems, prayers, and laying of wreaths. Mr Parsons, Head of Performance Music at King’s Ely Prep, and three of our Prep-age trumpeters attended the event to play the Last Post and Reveille.
Acremont Pre-Prep’s newly-appointed Year 2 House Captains joined pupils and staff from King’s Ely Prep, Senior, and Sixth Form for their Remembrance Service inside Ely Cathedral. Parents and carers, Old Eleans, Governors and friends of the school were invited to the annual event, which featured hymns, prayers, readings, blessings, and the National Anthem.
Moments which were as poignant as ever were when names of Old Eleans and former Choristers who have died in wars since World War One were read out, and when poppies fluttered down from the Octagon during the two-minute silence.
It is hard to put into words how moving these points are, and this year’s service was made even more special given that the Royal British Legion poppies were released from the tower by six of our Year 13 students from Hereward Hall and Hill House – all chosen for their service to our boarding community over the years. Thank you to Mr Bruce, Cellarer at Ely Cathedral, and Mr Parkinson, Head of Geography at King’s Ely Prep, for enabling this to happen.
At the start of the service, Mr Parsons played Prep pupil George Bangs’ winning entry of our Year 7 Fanfare music module. During the service, Chapel Choir sang ‘Make me an instrument of thy Peace’ by Jonathan Willcocks, and King’s Ely Brass Ensemble played the Last Post and Reveille.
After the service, Heads of School, Heads of Houses, staff, Old Eleans, and Governors laid wreaths at the school war memorial, which has recently been refurbished and is looked after exceptionally by our Grounds Team.
Thank you to everyone who contributed to what was an incredibly moving morning.