9S1, Monday 23rd February 2014 had the pleasure of welcoming Professor Adrian Smith from the University of Southampton to teach their usual period 5 History lesson.
Professor Adrian Smith was invited into the school as part of the organisation www.speakers4schools.org to speak to the class about the role of football in World War One. He spoke of the role of football and other sports such as rugby and cricket in recruiting men into ‘Pals Battalions’ to fight on the Western Front. He also discussed the Christmas Truce and debated whether there were football matches taking place during this temporary cease fire in 1914, never to be repeated during the rest of the war. To read more about Professor Smith please go to: http://www.speakers4schools.org/speakers/professor-adrian-smith
Professor Smith was also joined by Ernie Brennan, the director of the National Children’s Football Alliance. Ernie filmed the whole lesson as part of the Football and Peace project to commemorate the centenary of World War One which ten pupils in this class are part of.
Professor Smith emailed the school after the event and said “Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to your class. I thought they were terrific, both bright and well-behaved”