Year 6

The Year 6 students have participated in Remembrance Day activities in the lead up to this week’s ceremony.  They made paper poppies, rehearsed and performed speaking parts for the pre-recorded ceremony and watched short movies about the significance of Remembrance Day.  

Many had personal connections to war which they shared with pride.  The children were also very moved by the words of Grant Coultman-Smith who once again contributed to our ceremony, as he has done for many years.  He highlighted the importance of kindness, acceptance, tolerance and mateship.

One very special story which made an impression on the Year 6 students, was the history of the Gallipoli oak tree.  Captain William Lempriere Winter-Cooke sent several acorns home from Gallipoli to his family farm near Hamilton in 1915.

An oak tree that grew from one of the acorns from Gallipoli over 100 years ago was harvested to provide hundreds more oak trees for Victorian primary schools.  

To commemorate the Anzac Centenary, in 2015, the National Trust harvested this tree and three other Gallipoli oaks from Victoria. We were the grateful recipients of one of these trees in 2018.

Each student from BNPS planted a poppy at the base of our Gallipoli oak sapling to commemorate those who fought and died for our country. We feel privileged to have a living breathing memory of our heroes in our school.