Young learners help recall Anzacs

SOLEMN VIEW: UCol Wairarapa Early Childhood Education students Ella Omeda (left), 17, and Adelaide Percy, 22, both of Masterton, stand by the window decorated with paper poppies the students had made.PHOTOS/LYNDA FERINGA

Early childhood classes have brought together memories of Anzacs and other returned services personnel in Masterton.

Maryann Corrigan, Ucol Wairarapa Early Childhood Certificate tutor, on Thursday said students from her Certificate of Early Childhood Education and Care Level 3 class had handmade poppies and mounted the paper flowers on windows at the Masterton campus, alongside celebrated words associated with Anzac commemorations like The Ode and In Flanders Field.

The students also held an impromptu service of remembrance while a recording of the Last Post was playing, she said.

Meanwhile, children at Makoura Community Early Childhood Centre had helped make a remembrance display started on Tuesday after several of the children had been photographed in period military costumes, manager Wendy Rutherfurd said.

"From there we asked the parents if they had photos of any family members who had served. The response was immediate and pictures came flooding in," she said. "They brought in photos of their great grandfathers and family members who had been awarded medals. The response has been absolutely awesome."

She said the centre has children aged up to 5 years of age and a group had been taken to see the white crosses laid out at the Masterton Town Square, where it was discovered two of the children had relatives named in the public display.

Mrs Rutherfurd, whose nephew Joshua Kauika is a Royal New Zealand Navy Operational Dive Team member who will be at Anzac commemorations at Gallipoli this weekend, said the children had made Anzac biscuits as well as constructing the display over the week.