At Warwick, this innovation does not come at the expense of a deep pride in our long history. We consciously create opportunities for the pupils to understand their place in the story of our community.  One of the most powerful is our annual whole school act of remembrance.

Our chapel remains the heart of our school’s story.  Sadly, the school has grown beyond its walls and until recently remembrance had become a series of watered-down year-group assemblies spread across the week – with a minute’s silence observed at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, in classrooms at the end of period two!

A few years ago, we recognised the need for a more fitting way to mark this important occasion.  So, this week the whole school – over a thousand pupils and staff - gathered in the Warwick Hall.  Just as the school community did – in ‘Big School’ - more than a century ago in 1916.  Like us, they paused to reflect – but for them, the war was not history; it was their daily reality.  Each week they met with anxious hearts, worrying about family, friends, and former pupils and teachers who were away fighting.

We came together to remember those Old Warwickians who gave their lives for their country.  In doing so, we honour not only their sacrifice but also the enduring human connections that link us to them – the same classrooms, the same traditions, the same values of responsibility and courage.

Each annual act of remembrance features accounts of wartime events and biographies of former pupils compiled thanks to the dedicated work of our Archivist Mr Frykman, and our Head of History Mr O’Brien.  This year, we began with an extract from Horace Seymour Pyne – Warwick’s Head Master during the First World War – taken from his report to the school in February 1916:

“Since meeting here on a similar occasion, we have to deplore the loss of many past members of the school, who have given all for King and country. I do not propose to enumerate these losses for the very names are bound to call up feelings of deep emotion. Tender memories are enshrined in our hearts and will remain there as long as life lasts.”

 His voice reached out across the years, reminding us of the deep sorrow felt within this community and the personal loss behind each and every name read at the start of our service.  His words were followed by the stories of five OWs read by five current pupils:

• Edward Leslie Ward, who served as an officer at the Battle of the Somme and was killed aged 20.
• Alfred Kemp, who took part in the amphibious landings at ANZAC cove and was killed in action in the Dardanelles in August 1915.
• L.F. Cass, captain of rugby and cricket, who went to Cambridge and became a teacher before being killed in France in 1915.
• John Ravenhall, who survived being shot through the neck during the Gallipoli landings before being killed in Egypt.  His parents received his last letter on Christmas morning 1915, shortly before they were informed of his death.
• R.B. Holcroft, who ran the family farm after leaving Warwick before signing up at the outbreak of war and being killed aged 20 on the first day of the Battle of the Somme in July 2016.

Horace Pyne’s words and these tragic stories make the scale of the sacrifice tangible, turning numbers into names and stories - lives lived, loved and lost.   

Then the school fell silent, and from across the River Avon, the sound of the 11 o’clock gun rang out over Warwick, and we asked every pupil to honour their memory, not just in silence, but in the way they live, pledging to live lives of purpose, courage and responsibility – worthy of the tomorrow for which they gave their today.