School pupils excited to launch their Peace Field

A bronze war memorial shows two soldiers shaking hands over a football on the ground.

Beeslack High School in Midlothian is embarking on an exciting new project called the Peace Field Project (PFP), which the Children’s Football Alliance leads.

A recent trip to Belgium and Flanders Fields was impactful for senior students where they learned about the 1914 Christmas Truce and used the following words to describe their experience:

Emotional, impactful, connected, thought-provoking, powerful, empathy.

Pupils and staff from Beeslack High School visit Flanders Fields, Belgium with the Peace Field Project.
Pupils from Beeslack High School visit Belgium.

The Peace Field Project will link Beeslack High School with the WW1 event: “It is an opportunity to have our students and our wider community reflect on an inspiring moment in history while inspiring our young people to become peacemakers for our future.”

Logo, The Peace Field Project.

The purpose of the Peace Field Project is to:

  • Protect our young people’s childhood rights through play while promoting community peace.
  • Achieve these aims through sport.

Some pupils described their experience: “When we were playing rounders in Belgium with a plank of wood and a broken tennis ball, that’s when we realised what it meant to be a Battalion and were connected through a shared experience.”

The war memorial statue at the heart of Beeslack
“We want to build a Culture of Peace which starts at Beeslack.”

Beeslack Peace Field

Beeslack High School plans to launch its Peace Field on 21 September 2024 – International Day of Peace – and a school representative said: “We want our young people to recognise the importance of feeling safe in school, at home and in their community; living in harmony with others and being who you wish to be without fear, living in a world without conflict of violence; and living in an inclusive community without racism or hate.”

Carolyn MacLeod, ADES National Education Officer, is proud to be supporting the school, staff, pupils and their project.

More information will be provided as this project progresses.

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