Remembrance Day 2020

“On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we will remember them”.

Each year in Australia, we commemorate the end of World War I with a special service at the various Shrines of Remembrance. A minute’s silence is held throughout the country at 11am on this date. However, it was different this year due to COVID-19. Crowds could not gather in Victoria. However, COVID-19 did not deter us from remembering, nor did the thunderstorms and heavy rain prevent our school from holding a special assembly.

Originally, a small group of students and our Assistant Principal were to go the Special Reflections space in Hawkesdale to hold the service where we would normally all be gathered. Mr Ralph was going to use his mobile phone to hotspot a MS Teams meeting back to school so that we could all participate. However, the thunderstorm activity and heavy rains prevented this. Instead, the students who were to speak and Mr Ralph met in the front foyer of the school. Individual classrooms logged into MS Teams and listened to the speeches, poems, Last Post and Reveille. The minute silence was held and the National Anthem sung from across the school.

The school flag was lowered accordingly and a school wreath set at the flag pole. (These students did get wet from the rain!)

It was still a special event that could be participated in, in a different way.