STUDENTS have united to remember the soldiers who fought during the Great War.

Hundreds of children and teachers from Sholing Technology College took part in a special World War One activity day.

They crawled through the mud in a military assault course, cracked morse code, and also learnedt about the 16 million animals who died serving in the war.

And while those students were enjoying a day of discovery, a group from year 9 were one of only two schools representing Britain at the Menin Gate remembrance parade in Belgium.

Organised by humanities teacher and Falklands veteran, Michael Barnes-Forster, the group are in Belgium for a school trip and on the day of remembrance they gathered outside of the Menin memorial, dedicated to the British and commonwealth soldiers who were killed in Ypres Salient during the First World War.

Michael said: “We send a group of students to Belgium every year to explore the war memorials, museums and places where British soldiers fought and this year we wanted them to take part in the parade - it just so happens that we were one of only two British school to be there, which has given us all a huge sense of pride.

“The activities day was brilliant, we had all the students that were still here taking part in challenges which were aimed at helping them understand what life would have been like during the first war.

He added: “As a teacher, and someone who has fought for their country, I felt so proud and full of joy to see these children so passionate to learn about the men who battled for our freedom, they all loved it and were keen to find out what it would have been like for their relatives or people living in the city.”