The Poppy has been a flower of Remembrance for over 100 years, ever since it grew on the battlefields of the First World War, providing hope when everything else seemed bleak. AJEX is passionate about teaching children of all ages the importance of Remembrance and the Poppy is significant and often the first item that children are exposed to when learning about Remembrance.
Chief Executive, Fiona Palmer said: “Gardening and cherishing the immediate world around us is just some of the skills we learnt over lockdown. As part of the AJEX ‘Education’ pillar, the Poppy Project was launched to instil a love of the outside world in young people and to educate children and teenagers on the importance of remembering the Jewish Servicemen and Women who made that world safe and secure for us”.
AJEX distributed Poppy seeds with Magen David markers, so pupils could remember how important hope and Remembrance are to our community. Sacks Morasha Jewish Primary School were honoured to host 93 year-old, Veteran and Vice President of AJEX, Ron Shelley MBE, who helped Year 3 pupils plant the poppies and spoke on his experience of being evacuated aged 10 and answered children's questions. The pupils were delighted to share with Ron that their poppies have now grown, lining the perimeter of the school and now the whole school can be reminded of the Jewish Servicemen and Women who served in the War and who still serve today. Sinai Jewish Primary School also planted Poppies in the school’s wellbeing garden and sharing the planting was an important lesson for the children and Alyth nursery planted too.
As part of the AJEX Education programme, AJEX visits schools and are inviting schools to sign up to Remembrance talks for November where a Veteran will visit to talk to pupils about their war time experience. Primary and Secondary programmes are available. Contact headoffice@ajex.org.uk /020 8202 2323 to find out more and book a slot.
