We Will Remember Them: Honouring Remembrance Day at Witham Prospect
Today, November 11th, 2025, we paused at Witham Prospect School to mark Remembrance Day. This day provides a vital opportunity to teach our children and young people about mutual respect, tolerance, and the significance of honouring those who have served and sacrificed—a fundamental part of promoting British Values.
We understand that the solemn nature of Remembrance can be complex for our children and young people with severe learning disabilities and autism. Therefore, our activities were carefully planned to be multi-sensory, respectful, and fully inclusive, ensuring every learner could participate meaningfully.
Sensory Exploration and Reflection
Our approach focused on engaging the senses to facilitate calm understanding and respect.
- The Poppy Sensory Experience: We created a tactile and visual space using a poppy sensory tray filled with soft red fabric, felt flowers, black buttons, and green leaves. This offered a safe, hands-on way for our children and young people to explore the key colours and textures of the poppy.
- Tactile Poppies: We engaged in tactile poppy exploration using large fabric or textured poppies, allowing those who communicate through touch to connect with the symbol.
- Calm Reflection: We incorporated quiet time using gentle classical or brass band music, followed by moments of silence with low lighting.
This focus on sensory-rich, calming experiences helped encourage early attention and awareness of the event.
Meaningful Learning and Creative Respect
We connected the symbolism of the poppy directly to learning goals and personal expression:
- Understanding and Communication: We used symbol-supported storytelling to explain why we wear poppies. Our children and young people worked on their Cognition and Learning skills by matching symbols to pictures or real objects (poppy, medal, soldier, flag).
- Creating Together: To honour the collective act of remembering, each class focused on creating a shared tribute:
- Learners worked on fine motor skills by gluing poppies onto a large wreath.
- Others participated in Poppy finger painting or stamping using sponges or potato prints.
- Expressing Gratitude: engaged in PSHE learning by writing or drawing a “thank you” card for a soldier or veteran with staff support.
By taking part in these supported activities our children and young people were able to honour the importance of remembering others in a way that was personal, meaningful, and deeply respectful.
Today, we stood together as a community to ensure that the message of Remembrance—one of peace, respect, and gratitude—is understood and cherished by all.