News: Students and alumni remember the fallen for Armistice Day
To mark Remembrance Day 2021, Nottingham College staff and students, along with High Pavement alumni, held a special ceremony at its High Pavement Sixth Form on Friday 12th November.
Leading the service were members of the High Pavement Society, made up of High Pavement School alumni, some of them from the 1940s, including the President and Chairman of the High Pavement Society, Ken Kirk.
A Level students and Society members joined together to remember the fallen, especially those former High Pavement students, or ‘Old Paviors’, who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars.
Names of the fallen were read out by Society members and students, followed by the sounding of the Last Post by Royal British Legion member Sarah Emblen, and a two-minute silence.
A number of A Level students were in attendance, sharing what Armistice Day means to them.
I wanted to be part of the event because I think remembering the soldiers, nurses and everyone who sacrificed their lives is really important. Without them we wouldn’t be where we are today so they should never be forgotten — not just for British history but for world history too.
— Jegan Jatta — High Pavement A Level student
We were delighted to welcome our friends from the High Pavement Society to this important annual Remembrance event. It’s extremely important for us to keep the legacy of the former High Pavement School and its former pupils/students alive today. Many former students who lost their lives were of a similar age or younger than some of our current students so showing our respect and remembering them is important to us.
Our students were honoured to be present, were very respectful and delighted to hear past stories from the society members about their school memories. It’s been a very poignant event and one that is hugely important to us annually to share with our friends.
— Adam Beazeley, Head of High Pavement Sixth Form
It was a real privilege to work with the staff and students at High Pavement Sixth Form for the ceremony, which I hope proved to be a very effective remembrance, and one which hopefully made an impact on everyone involved. I also hope it encourages some of the younger generation to attend their local church ceremonies for Remembrance Sunday.
— Ken Kirk — High Pavement Society President
Molly Norman, 17, helped to read out the names of the fallen as part of the ceremony. She is studying A Levels in Sociology, Politics and English Literature. She said: “My Great-Grandad fought in World War II. I wasn’t able to get to know him but my dad always spoke highly of him. It was out of respect for him and all the other soldiers that I really wanted to be involved in the event.”
On Remembrance Day, Thursday 11 November, students and staff across the whole College paused to observe a two-minute silence.
Interested in finding out more about the High Pavement Society, and the College’s history and heritage?
Published on:
- 12th November 2021 (1:09 PM)
Media enquiries
If you are a journalist and would like to contact us about this news story, our PR and Communications team will be happy to assist you.