School pupils commemorate the Battle of Amiens on UCL Programme

Students from around the world will today visit the former battlefields of the Western Front to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Amiens (8-11 August 1918), as part of the UCL's First World War Centenary Battlefield Tours Programme. The International Student Programme, which has been developed by UCL Institute of Education (IOE), as part of the national commemorations of the First World War, will tell the story of the Battle of Amiens which was one of the key elements of the Hundred Days campaign and the path to the Armistice, which signalled the end of the war in November 1918. Students from many of the nations which fought at Amiens - Australia, Canada, England, France, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the USA - will work together during the four-day tour to study the nature of fighting on the Western Front, before looking closely at the events of August 1918 and how they would lead to the armistice. "The students will share what they have learnt about how their country was involved in the battle as well as reflecting on the significance of the battles of 1918 and the road to peace" said Simon Bendry, the UCL Programme Director. Fran Shah, a history teacher from Stowe School, who is taking students on the trip said: "We're delighted students from our school have the opportunity to visit the battlefields and bring their classroom learning to life. The visit to the sites will give students a chance to reflect and question what happened during the First World War and particularly the Battle of Amiens in 1918.