07 May 2021
Public schools are making sure the sacrifice of war veterans and serving defence personnel is not forgotten.
Across NSW students and public schools last week played a key role in keeping the ANZAC spirit alive.
In the lead-up to the national day of remembrance, students were making artworks, studying literature, writing poems and learning the story of Australia’s military history.
School-based ceremonies also offered children of defence personnel the opportunity to mark their parents’ service.
This included the 28 public primary schools and 10 public secondary schools in NSW that are part of the Defence School Mentor program, which supports the families of current personnel.
The school choir at South Coogee Public School, with defence families from the Randwick and Victoria barracks, continued a 15-year tradition by singing at the Coogee Beach Dawn Service.
At Wattle Grove Public School in Sydney’s west, students created an interactive garden.
The metal poppies are connected to an audio file which is listened to via an old fashion tin can similar to war time.
The audio files include interviews with members of the school’s defence force community talking about their experience in the army and the ANZAC spirit.
At La Perouse Public School in Sydney, the students marked ANZAC Day by unveiling a plaque in the memory of local Aboriginal veteran Uncle Vic Simons, who died earlier this year.
