Holmleigh Primary School, Hackney

27 November 2015


LETTER FROM HORACE SEWELL                        HOLMLEIGH PRIMARY SCHOOL

Dear Edith,

Thank you for your heart-warming letters.

They really cheer me up, cheer me up, cheer me up.

They really cheer me up, cheer me up, cheer me up.

[Repeat]

 

The trenches are flooded, flooded, flooded

The trenches are smelly and cold! cold! cold! cold!

Flying pigs; German bombs are falling from the sky.

Flying pigs; German bombs are falling from the sky.

The other day a dud landed in our trench

But a sapper disabled it straight away.

 

I have a soldier’s heart, I have a soldier’s heart.

I feel dejected watching my men die.

We have pugnacious opponents but we intend to defeat them.

We’ll teach those rats a lesson and kill them all.

 

I have a soldier’s heart, I have a soldier’s heart.

The horses’ feet are rotting, rotting, rotting in the gluey mud.

You have to sacrifice souls to win the game,

And we need more reinforcements if we’re going to win, going to win, going to win.

 

I’m so proud to have won the Legion d’honneur

Now if I die, I will die with honour

Now if I die, I will die with honour

Now if I die, I will die with honour

Now if I die, I will die with honour…

 

Dear Edith, my beloved,

I can’t wait for our wedding.

It keeps me alive, me alive, me alive,

It keeps me alive, me alive, me alive,

[Repeat]

 

Your loving fiancée,

 

Lieutenant-Colonel Horace Sewell

 

 

I learned an amazing lot about World War One. – Melike

I loved that everyone came to see us perform all our hard work. – Leah

The best thing about the composing was that it was made up from our letters and we made it all up. – Julia

The best thing about the activity was when we made the puppets uniform and the face. I learned how to make a puppet and patience. – Saima

A high quality mixed media performance leading to greatly enhanced expectations. A real sense of occasion and performance felt by performers and audience. – Kevin, Head of Holmleigh Primary School

A reminder that hands on, high expectations, diversity of approaches, and expert modelling lead to great learning! We all really enjoyed the project, and it was great to work with skilled professionals in a variety of fields. The project matched expectations very well, especially in the diversity of learning opportunities. – Kevin, Head of Holmleigh Primary School