April is the month of the military child and we are glad to have some children whose parents are in the Armed Forces within our community here at Merry Hill Infant School. Today we learnt a bit more about what it means to be part of a military family.
We started our day by having an assembly with Padre Nicoll. He reminded us about the different Armed Forces; British Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force and we learnt how they help us. He also told us why it is called Purple Up Day – it is a combination of green from the Army, blue from the Navy and RAF and red from the Marines (part of the Navy).
We learnt that the official emblem of the military child is the dandelion because its seeds are blown far and wide by the wind but it will plant and blossom anywhere it goes. In the same way, the military child has to move around due to military postings, involving new homes and schools – which can happen as often as every 2 years!
During the day all the children had the opportunity to make their own medal. We thought about the characteristics that can apply to military children and then thought about the characteristics that applied to us all at Merry Hill; ambitious, collaborative, curious and healthy learners. We also thought about characteristics we might have been working on personally. We then crafted a medal using card and tin foil.
We also had the opportunity to experience a military themed warm- up and game, plus tug of war which was great fun! Thanks to Lt.Col Dan for giving his time today. Everyone had such fun!
In Golden time we could do do dandelion painting or finger prints and make military figures using lolly sticks and card.
In our final circle time we went around and said the characteristic we have been working on and our teachers awarded us our medals at the end of the day. Well done to all!
