Mr Coutts speaking at the mayoral reception which was held at the official opening of the exhibition and book launch in Chauny, France. The students then supported him with a Maori song at the end of his speech.
Nos amies d'EPSOM viennent de partir pour l'Espagne. Elles sont restées avec nous 4 jours, du 7 Avril au soir au 11 Avril au matin : ce fut court, trop court mais si intense ! Nous venons de vivre des moments ensemble inoubliables. Cette rencontre qui a été le fruit de 16 mois de travail commun entre nos deux écoles, élèves et enseignants a été riche en échanges culturels, linguistiques et émotionnels. Nous avons pu constater que les échanges numériques ayant eu lieu au préalable ont permis à...
We attended a concert of French music today. The music was of French songs from the First World War and French poems from the First World War that had been set to music. The musicians played a contemporary musical version of these. It was a great concert to attend as it gave us a unique chance to hear this French music.
New Zealand and French students read poetry as a way of paying respect to the New Zealand soldiers who died in the Somme. Poems were read in Maori, French and the English language. We then laid a wreath and the New Zealand students sang a song in Maori. It was a great way to end the day and it was good to do this together. The students now understand very well that we both share a history for the First Wirld War.
The village of Craonne is on the Californie plateau which was the site of bloody fighting on 16 April 1917 during Nivelle's failed 1917 Offensives. It was these disastrous offensives that pushed the French Army over the edge and led to the 1917 Mutiny. The village was immortalised in the song called La Chanson de Craonne (English: The Song of Craonne). This song was sung by the 68 divisions of French soldiers (out of 110 French Army divisions) who mutinied. The song was prohibited in France...
Memorial to Victor Spencer at the Ypres Museum in the Cloth Hall. The carved box contains the pardon from the New Zealand government.
The Baradene College students placed a wreath on the grave of a New Zealand soldier named John King in a cemetery in northern France. He was executed because he deserted. He was the first New Zealand soldier to be executed during WWI.
We visited the execution post in Pomeringe and then we went to the cemetery and found the graves of the soldiers who had been shot at dawn. This included a 17 year old Jamaican.
Today all of the students got to see the book. Everyone was excited to see the section they had written and to find thier name as an author at the back of the book. Our task today for the project was to post two copied to the National Library of New Zealand. This is called the "Legal Deposit" and is required under law in New Zealand when you get an ISBN number for the book. It means that two copies will be forever kept in the Bational Library for researchers to reference.
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