Anderson High School marks Remembrance with 1,800 woolly poppies

A "cascade" of poppies on Anderson High School's Cairn. (Photo: Shetland Island Council)

Anderson High School in Lerwick has decorated its commemorative stone cairn with a blanket of woollen poppies as a symbol of remembrance for those who have died in conflict.

Roughly 1,800 poppies — some knitted, some crocheted and some made from the base of plastic bottles — have been draped  over the cairn.

The design was partly inspired by a 2014 display “cascading” over the walls and moat of the Tower of London.

Headteacher Robin Calder called the display “striking” and emphasised the importance of teaching children about historical wars.

“Remembrance is an important topic for pupils, to understand the impact that past conflicts had in Shetland and elsewhere,” Mr Calder said. 

Children, staff and parents came together to knit the poppies while younger children made paper cut-outs for classroom windows.

Ability Shetland also sent in poppies from their social club made from the bases of plastic bottles painted red.

Children will spend the week involved in a number of other remembrance activities: from remembrance-themed lessons, to breaktime fundraisers for Poppy Scotland, the Scottish armed forces charity. Students will also write remembrance “postcards” for former pupils who have died in conflict.

The school will host a small ceremony at 11am on Armistice Day, Monday 11th November, at the school’s war memorial, which lists all former pupils of the Anderson Educational Institute who died in the First and Second World Wars.