Students flock to Le Quesnoy for Anzac Day commemorations
Te Arawhata welcomes school groups from both New Zealand and France around the key commemorative period of Anzac Day
Education is at the heart of our mission at the New Zealand Liberation Museum – Te Arawhata. The museum’s themes of freedom, friendship and future encourage young people to reflect on the past, engage in the present and help shape what is yet to come.
April is a particularly busy month at the Museum, as spring arrives just in time for the most important commemorative event of the year for New Zealanders: Anzac Day. We were delighted to have visits from New Zealand and French students across this important period.
Not one, but two visits from Auckland Grammar School
Students from Auckland Grammar School on separate French and History tours of Europe visited Le Quesnoy last month. Year 13 student Andrew Eldridge shared that visiting the Western Front and Te Arawhata brought home the reality of what 100,000 Kiwi soldiers experienced.
“Many of them were our age. It’s incredibly humbling to see these people doing what I don’t think I would be capable of doing.
“It’s important we remember the stories of bravery, but we also need to learn lessons so that future generations don’t experience what these people experienced. That’s why it’s important to visit places like Te Arawhata where you can see what they saw and feel what they felt.”
Epsom Girls’ Grammar visits alongside French highschoolers from Chauny
As part of an exchange with the Lycée Gay-Lussac, students from Auckland’s Epsom Girls Grammar School visited Te Arawhata on 24 April. Following a moving experience within the Museum, the group marched to the New Zealand Memorial where they laid a wreath and sang the waiata (song) Tūtira mai ngā iwi as a tribute to the service of New Zealanders during World War One.
The choice of waiata was fitting – focussed on the coming together of peoples to live and work together, it was an appropriate way to close two weeks of building connections between students from opposite ends of the Earth.
Local students learn the meaning of Anzac Day
For many French people, the Commonwealth duty of remembrance is surprisingly strong, especially when compared to their own “devoir de memoire”. Te Arawhata Education Manager, Blandine Demailly, prepared and held workshops in the lead up to Anzac Day so that our local students could discover the importance of this commemorative day for New Zealanders and how we remember our soldiers’ sacrifices.
Students from Le Quesnoy’s Lycée Eugène Thomas learnt about the Battle of Gallipoli, while pupils of the local Ecole Chevray discovered the symbolism behind the famous poppy. Their wreaths of remembrance adorned the Te Arawhata entrance foyer across the Anzac Weekend.
A poignant morning on Anzac Day
Te Arawhata received a visit from New Plymouth Boys’ High School on Anzac Day morning, who, following a tour of the museum and Le Quesnoy’s ramparts, laid a wreath of remembrance at the New Zealand Memorial. A senior student read The Ode, and the boys observed a moment of silence.
Teacher Joanne Ander explained that it was important for the school group to “commemorate the fallen who came to liberate this incredible little town and to remember all the work of those who have come before us for freedom.”
School visits available year-round
The team at Te Arawhata is uniquely equiped to welcome school groups from France, New Zealand and beyond to Le Quesnoy, New Zealand’s place to stand on the Western Front. With bilingual resources, engaging workshops and tours, and options for lunch or morning tea, we have everything you need to enjoy a special day in the town liberated by New Zealanders 107 years ago.
For more information, contact Blandine Demailly at info@nzliberationmuseum.com.
