Westbourne House School children said goodbye to giant poppy after four years supporting The Royal British Legion’s 14-18 Legacy campaign.
The giant steel poppy that has been on the front of Westbourne House since 2014 in support of Royal British Legion's 14-18 Legacy campaign was taken down on Tuesday 20 November 2018. Year 3 pupils, who have been studying World War One in class this term, came to say goodbye to the poppy.
The daily presence of the poppy, over our four years of support for the 14-18 Legacy, has really brought home to everyone just how long four years is. It has served to remind pupils and staff of the history of WWI and has been a fitting commemoration of the sacrifice of that generation. Many visitors to Westbourne House mention and talk about it, from visiting speakers to parents and coach drivers. We will miss the poppy but our charitable work for the Royal British Legion will continue including our annual collection and service for Remembrance Day.
Martin Barker, Headmaster
The 14-18 Legacy at Westbourne House was launched in 2014 with a huge school-wide project that involved all pupils researching family members who were involved in WWI. This uncovered lots of interesting memorabilia, and many pupils were moved by the family stories discovered. Some of this research, along with items of school memorabilia, were put into a time capsule and buried on the school grounds. The time capsule is marked by a plaque that explains that the capsule is to be dug up in 2064, on the 150th anniversary of the start of WWI.
Also in 2014, a sculptural poppy was designed by Head of Art, Ann Frith, and Westbourne House commissioned an ex-parent and local sculptor Kate Viner to make it. It adorned the front of the school for four years.
Over the last four years, an enormous number of events supporting the 14-18 Legacy have taken place. Educationally, various year groups created WWI artwork, which has hung in the school’s main house, Mr Stewart organised a trip to the Normandy beaches, various year groups studied WWI in class and Year 4 visited the Imperial War Museum. Raising funds, the school has been extremely busy, putting on ‘dressing up in red’, as well as sponsored events, cake sales, art shows, fetes to name but a few. The Westbourne Players, made up of teachers and ex-pupils, also donated profits from their WWI-themed play My Boy Jack to The Royal British Legion. In total over £25,000 was raised.
The poppy has been donated by Westbourne House to Blind Veterans UK (formerly St Dunstan’s), for their Brighton centre.
