School of thought...

THE ultimate sacrifice made by military men and women were explored by students at a Chadderton school yesterday.

As part of a history project, pupils at The Radclyffe School took the surnames of all 200 members of staff and found people who lost their lives during conflict with the same or similar surnames.

The details of all the servicemen and women researched in the project are currently on display around the Hunt Lane school including their regiments, when they died and where they are buried.

For assistant head teacher Matt Halls, the project had a personal impact after he looked into the life of his great-great-uncle who died in France on March 21, 1918, aged 19.

He said: “I took my own children to see the site in France where he died and brought the pictures in to show the students at the school.

“By linking teachers’ names with those who died in conflicts around the world, we have tried to make the act of remembrance more personal for the students and make them think about the people who have given their lives in wars.”

Students also created a display featuring 99 poppies, signifying the 99th anniversary of the start of the First World War, and were asked to answer the question “why is it important to remember?”

Many of the pupils gave thanks to those who died fighting for freedom and marked the bravery of those involved in conflicts in their tributes. English teacher Trevor Callanan was also shocked to discover that someone sharing his surname had fought with the allies in Australia during the First World War but died just before the conflict ended.

He said: “It was really amazing to find someone with the name Callanan as it is such an unusual name.”

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