Clifton College pupils gather in Chapel for Remembrance Sunday service

On Sunday, the Upper School pupils and teachers along with the College’s Combined Cadet Force gathered in the Chapel for our annual Remembrance Sunday service.

The congregation, of almost 1,000 people, participated in a moving service attended by a number of our armed forces families and Sixth Form parents. The College Chaplain led the service assisted by our pupil organist, trumpeter and piper along with the Chapel Choir.

Pupils listened carefully as the preacher, Lt Col Stephen Turnock REME, talked about the importance of remembering the casualties of the two World Wars as well as those who have been killed in conflict since then around the globe. He reminded the school that the poppy is a symbol of remembrance that transcends age, nationality, religious belief, political views and sexual orientation.

This was particularly poignant as the Upper School student community this year is made up of pupils from almost 60 different countries with many religious and cultural differences amongst them to celebrate and learn from.

After the service, pupils from a number of these countries formed a procession outside the Chapel carrying their national flag as a visual symbol that the pain of armed conflict affects each country around the world and that we remember all who have been affected by this pain.

Poppy wreaths were laid by the Memorial Arch by representative members of the College and S/Lt Harry Geeson RN OC, who left Clifton recently to be commissioned into the Royal Navy.