Y8 Fort Nelson - November 2018

On 27th November, as part of the centenary of World War One celebrations, 63 Year 8 students had the opportunity to visit Fort Nelson.  Fort Nelson was originally founded by the Victorians to defend against the French and quickly became an important centre for training soldiers on their way to war.  As such, it was a perfect place to gain a better understanding of the training of soldiers and the equipment and tactics of World War One, as well as enabling connections to be made with local and national History. 

The Royal Armoury’s experts led seminars about weapons and  were very impressed by the astute questions and historical knowledge displayed by our students.  There was also scope for students to handle weapons and equipment from World War One—some of the equipment the soldiers carried was surprisingly heavy.  Students also heard a howitzer, which fired two shots, giving students a better understanding of how loud being on the front line could be for those who were unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of an artillery barrage.  We were then guided around Fort Nelson and the impressive artillery pieces.  We also went down into the tunnels under Fort Nelson to see where ammunition and artillery placements were built to protect the Fort from attack.

Our students on the Fort Nelson trip demonstrated outstanding behaviour, representing our school extremely well, which impressed both our staff and the staff at Fort Nelson.