Between the 15 and 18 November, two Holderness Academy Sixth Form students visited the First World War Battlefields in Belgium and France. The students visited sites around the Belgian town of Ypres on the first day, such as the German cemetery at Langemark whilst contrasting this with a visit to Tyne Cot cemetery, the largest Commonwealth War Graves cemetery containing 11,000 graves and the names of 40,000 soldiers who have no known grave. The attitude of the students to the context of the visit was exemplary and both girls were privileged to be asked to lay a wreath at the famous Menin Gate Last Post Ceremony, an honour not granted to all that visit.

The second day saw a journey to the Somme battlefield in France and could understand how the landscape affected the nature of the war fought there through the majority of 1916. The visit to Newfoundland Memorial Park and the Thiepval Memorial were the main highlights with the students experiencing the emotions and practicalities of going over the top at the Sunken Lane and the Hawthorne Ridge mine crater. All in all the students reflected on a moving and inspirational visit and both look forward to completing their legacy projects to pass on the lessons learned during the visit.