Chailey The First Network School

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Peace Field Football Tournament

Chailey School, Thursday 15th October 2015

Chailey School are the first Network School to kick off the Peace Fields Project (PFP) Tournaments. Assistant Head, Tim Dudgeon, led the way for network schools participating in the PFP, commemorating the First World War and celebrating peace through play. The event will be followed-up with the school receiving a plaque next year twinning Chailey School playing fields with Flanders Peace Fields, Messines, Belgium, site of the First World War Christmas Truces.

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Assistant Head Teacher, Tim Dudgeon, introduces guest speaker Ernie Brennan from the National Children’s Football Alliance.

It was time for Chailey School’s now annual ‘Peace Field Football Tournament’ on Thursday! This tournament is also part of Chailey School’s ongoing commemoration project on ‘Chailey and The Great War’, the school’s continuing links with local primary schools, and also an important nation-wide project with the National Children’s Football Alliance. Local primary schools from Ditchling, Fletching, Hamsey, Wivelsfield, Plumpton, Newick, Barcombe and Danehill all played with enthusiasm and considerable skill, with both sporting competition and fair play being key parts of the afternoon. Mr Dudgeon, Assistant Headteacher at Chailey School, welcomed Ernie Brennan, Managing Director of the NCFA, to start the event with a ceremony of handing over a ‘Poppy Ball’, marking the school’s playing fields twinning with Flanders Peace Field and the Peace Village at Messines in

National Children's Football Alliance's Ernie Brennan presents Chailey School with a Peace Poppy Ball to kick off the Peace Fields Tournament
National Children’s Football Alliance’s Ernie Brennan presents Chailey School with a Peace Poppy Ball to kick off the Peace Fields Tournament

Belgium (site of the 1914 Christmas Truce). The nation-wide Peace Field Project has invited schools not only to commemorate World War One and the Christmas Truce but also to celebrate peace through reflecting on a moment in history that inspires humanitarianism, and Chailey School is proud to be at the forefront of this and one of the first schools to be involved.

The afternoon, organized by Chailey’s Ms Davey, and refereed and run by the school’s Year 9 Junior Sports Leaders, saw some great football being played in a sporting spirit. In the end, Ditchling won the Year 3 and 4 competition (Wivelsfield and Fletching the Fair Play Award) and Hamsey the Year 5 and 6 (with Plumpton and Hamsey winning the award for Fair Play at that level).

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