PAINTED poppies filled the Holy Trinity School field today (November 9) to mark the centenary of the First World War.

The school held a week-long 'Paint a Poppy Challenge', which culminated in 800 students and staff gathering in the school grounds to create a 'field of poppies' after a two minutes' silence at 11am in honour of the 800 Kidderminster lives lost during both world wars.

Headteacher Pamela Leek-Wright, who read a roll call of the fallen soldiers, said: "As a school, we wanted to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I by inviting every member of the school community to participate in the commemorative service, part of which was to create our own 'Holy Trinity Field of Poppies' on the school’s playing field, after observing the two minutes' silence.

“It seems poignant to think that the 800 members of the school community were symbolic of those from the Kidderminster area who fell in the two wars.”

As well as the Paint a Poppy Challenge, which was organised in association with the Society for All Artists, Holy Trinity joined the Royal British Legion's Poppy Appeal by selling poppies in school in aid of serving men and women, veterans and their families.

Teacher Amy Grubb added: "The ‘Paint a Poppy Challenge’ has given us the opportunity to speak with the children and teach them about the First Word War, and to say thank you to the courageous men and women who served and sacrificed their lives for our country.”