www.bryntirioncs.bridgend.sch.uk/
25/08/17
The first school in Wales to twin their Peace Pitch with The Peace Village, Flanders Peace Field, Messines, Belguim,
site of the 1914 First World War Christmas Truces.
Click here for Welsh language
Bryntirion Comprehensive are proud
to be the first school in Wales to twin with Flanders Peace Field.
13/05/17
Attending a school constructed long after 1918 may make us feel detached from the First World War, yet our modern community has been built upon deep historical foundations. Our motto ‘we learn how to live’ has powerful resonance in contextualising the First World War. We believe that education should transcend the classroom in order to truly absorb the essence of peace in opposition to the conflict, prejudice and hatred manifest in the horrors of War. Recognising the importance of making resolute the impact inflicted upon our own community by the Great War, the pupils of Bryntirion set about constructing a permanent memorial to the men of the locality who lay down their lives for peace a century ago.
Researching details of these soldier’s lives and creating tiles bearing each of their names, numbering fifty three in total, we are extremely proud to preserve the legacy of forgotten heroes under the banner of modern Bryntirion. In a different generation these men would have been pupils in our school, instead they faced the horrors of war, torn far from their families, their hopes and their dreams to die in a foreign field over 300 miles away.
Explicating upon commemorative activities in school, we felt that nothing could replicate the profound impact of witnessing these locations first hand whilst walking in the footsteps of those who fought there a century before. On a remembrance visit to the battlefields of France and Belgium our pupils delivered services and laid wreaths at numerous memorial sites, including the Welsh Memorial Park and Mametz Wood where so many of the Welsh soldiery made the ultimate sacrifice. Demonstrating the spirit of humanitarian solidarity exemplified by the Christmas Truce, pupils understood their responsibility to also remember German losses in Langemark Cemetery and women killed in war.
Establishing a powerful bond to an increasingly distant past pupils preceded their visit by inquiring into their own family involvement in the First World War. A palpable sense of personal loss was subsequently felt as individuals placed poppies in commemoration of relatives who, as young as 17, never returned home. These poignant moments marked the first time a member of each soldier’s family had journeyed to pay tribute at their graveside.
In the educational study of war it is a happy irony that a message of peace prevails. To this end we are dedicated to the Peace Field Project in the hope that future generations of peace makers, inspired by the 1914 Christmas Truce, will recognise how sport transformed brutalised lives into an exploration of how to be a better human.
This message will remain long in the memories of all who pause to listen.
-Ambassadors Molly Cook, Siona-Lee Hemming and Gwen Williams.
www.bryntirioncs.bridgend.sch.uk/
Mae Ysgol Gyfun Bryntirion yn falch o fod yr ysgol gyntaf yng Nghymru i efeillio gyda Maes Heddwch Fflandrys.
13/05/17
Gall mynychu ysgol a adeiladwyd ymhell ar ôl 1918 gwneud i ni deimlo ar wahân o’r Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf, ond eto adeiladwyd ein cymuned fodern ar y sylfeini hanesyddol dwfn yma. Mae gan ein harwyddair ‘Dysgwn sut i fyw’ cyseiniant pwerus yng ghyd-destun y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf. Credwn dylai addysg mynd y tu hwnt yr ystafell dosbarth er mwyn dysgu gwir heddwch mewn gwrthwynebiad i’r gwrthdaro, rhagfarn a chasineb yr erchyllterau’r Rhyfel.
Gan gydnabod yr effaith a achosodd y Rhyfel Mawr ar ein cymuned, adeiladwyd disgyblion Bryntirion cofeb er mwyn cofio’r 53 dynion, a bu farw yn ymladd am heddwch dros ganrif yn ôl. Rydym yn hynod o falch i gadw etifeddiaeth yr arwyr anghofiedig yma dan faner Bryntirion modern. Mewn cenhedlaeth wahanol byddai’r dynion yma wedi mynychu ein hysgol ni, yn hytrach wynebodd erchyllterau’r rhyfel, ymhell o’u teuluoedd, i farw tramor dros 300 milltir i ffwrdd.
Er hynny, teimlwn gall ddim byd efelychu effaith gweld y lleoliadau yma, wrth gerdded yn olion traed y rhai a bu ymladd yno dros ganrif yn ôl. Ar ymweliad coffa i feysydd brwydrau Ffrainc a Gwlad Belg, ddarperir ein disgyblion gwasanaethau, a gosod torchau ar y safleoedd yma, er mwyn dangos parch i’r nifer o filwyr Gymru a wnaeth yr aberth eithaf.
Ar ôl yr ymweliad ymchwiliodd y disgyblion cyfranogiad eu teuluoedd yn y Rhyfel Byd Cyntaf. Roedd amlwg ymdeimlad o golled bersonol, teimlwyd hyn wrth i ddisgyblion gosod pabi er cof am eu perthnasau oedd mor ifanc â 17. Roedd yr eiliadau teimladwy yma yn marcio’r tro cyntaf i deuluoedd y milwyr teithio i dalu teyrnged ar lan y bedd.
Yn yr astudiaeth o ryfel mae’n eironi hapus bod neges o heddwch dal yn bodoli. Rydym yn ymroddedig i’r prosiect Maes Heddwch, gyda’r gobaith bydd cenedlaethau heddychwyr y dyfodol, a ysbrydolwyd gan y cadoediad y Nadolig, 1914, yn cydnabod sut drawsnewidiodd chwaraeon bywydau pobl i fod yn bobl well.
Bydd y neges yma yn aros yn hir yn gof pawb sy’n oedi i wrando.
This message will remain long in the memories of all who pause to listen.
-Ambassadors Molly Cook, Siona-Lee Hemming and Gwen Williams.
Bryntirion Comprehensive School have completed a number of projects commemorating the First World War, most significantly a memorial in the School Foyer. This features the names of over 50 soldiers who fell from our catchment area during the War, all of whom were researched by our students. Andrew Shell (History teacher) said, we also hold a whole-school Remembrance Service and cross curricular WWI day on 11th November each year. Our local research was developed further during our annual Battlefields visit, as pupils now lay poppies at the graves and memorials connected to their relatives and others connected to the school. It was on our visit to the regions of The First World War that we saw the leaflets regarding the Peace Field Project. We are looking forward to pledging to continue our research and commemorations well beyond the centenary. The school are excited by the prospect of being the first school in Wales to twin our playing fields with Flanders Peace Fields.
