We Will Remember

An assembly for Remembrance Day

by Alan M. Barker (revised, originally published in 2013)

Suitable for Whole School (Sec)

Aims

To consider the significance of the traditional words of remembrance.

Preparation and materials

• You will need the PowerPoint slides that accompany this assembly (We Will Remember) and the means to display them.
• Optional: you may wish to arrange for some students to read some lines from the poem in the ‘Assembly’, Step 2.
• Optional: prior to the assembly, you may wish to invite the students to compose a short poem that expresses their response to war. These could then be read out in the ‘Assembly’, Step 7.

Assembly

1. Show Slide 1.
   
   Explain that this man is the poet Laurence Binyon. Although the students may be unfamiliar with the name, they may well recognize some of the words that he wrote.
   
   
2. Show Slides 2 to 4 and read out the words on the slides, or ask some students to do so.
   
   (You may prefer to use only verses 1, 3, 4 and 5 of the poem, depending on the ages of those present, but explain that they are from a longer poem.)
   
   
3. Show Slide 5 and read out the words.
   
   Explain that the words ‘We will remember them’ appear on many war memorials. They are also used during Remembrance Sunday services throughout the country and abroad.
   
   
4. Invite the students to give their responses to the poem. What feelings does it evoke? How does it describe the courage of those who fought and the consequences of war?
   
   Observe that the poem reflects contrasting emotions of pride and gratitude, sadness and sorrow.
   
   
5. Explain that, surprisingly, the poem wasn’t written after the First World War; instead, it was published on 21 September 1914, only seven weeks after the fighting began. 
   
   Laurence Binyon wrote it as he sat on a clifftop in Cornwall shortly after the first regiments had left for France. This time was marked by cheerfulness and high hopes, with many people expecting the war to be over by Christmas. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. In the four terrible years that followed, many thousands of lives were lost.
   
   
6. As a Quaker, Laurence Binyon was a pacifist. He believed that it was wrong to use violence to settle disputes. He foresaw that great suffering and enormous loss of life would result from the war. He was too old to enlist, but later joined the Red Cross and cared for those who were wounded.
   
   
7. Invite the students to consider their own responses to wars and conflicts that are currently in the news.
   
   Are the devastating effects of armed conflict sufficiently appreciated today? What feelings and fears might the students wish to express?
   
   Optional: introduce the reading of short poems that express the students’ response to war, if using.

Time for reflection

Invite the students to reflect upon the words, ‘We will remember them.’

It is proper that we honour those who served their country. It’s also important that we never forget the suffering and loss of life that results from war.

Read out the words on Slide 5 again, and then pause to allow time for thought.

Show Slide 6.

After a time of silence, repeat the following words.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
We will remember them.

Song/music

The Last Post, available at: https://youtu.be/3MH37XqGeRg (1.41 minutes long)