Sunderland school honours its own fallen hero

As the country marks the centenary of the Armistice, the pupils at Red House Academy took time out to think about Pte Michael Tench, who was killed while serving in Iraq in January 2007.

Pte Tench was a former pupils at the Rutherglen Road school.

Red House pupils and Army Cadet members (left to right) Connor Dale, Brandon Cummings and Mytchell Charlton.

He was just 18 when he died while on duty. He was in the back of a Warrior armoured car which was blasted by a roadside bomb in Basra.

Paula Dubbeldam, a member of staff at the school, said: “This year’s Remembrance activities were held in memory of Michael.

“It focused specifically on the role of the individual.”

Following an assembly the whole school gathered for a two minute silence on the school yard.

One of the 'silent silhouettes' placed between pupils attending the Red House Academy service.

This was led by the academy’s cadets, along with Joe Beattie from the Salvation Army, who played the Last Post.

Within the academy there are also ten silhouettes on display in the assembly hall which were donated to Red House through the Armed Forces Covenant.

During the assembly a group of students who recently visited First World War Battlefields talked about their experiences, including student Naven Longstaff who visited his great-great-grandfather’s grave.