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Armistice Parade 2020

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Finlay MacDonald

Finlay MacDonald

Normally the whole school and guests gather in the playground for the annual Armistice Parade, with parents and the public also invited to watch. However, with the current Covid-19 restrictions in place, this year’s event on Friday 6th November had to be a closed ceremony with only a reduced number of participating pupils and staff in attendance.

The Parade saw members of the CCF and a section of the Pipe Band assemble in front of the Pillars to pay tribute to the fallen. Contingent Commander, Lt. Colonel Colin McAdam, led the proceedings and prior to the ceremony the appointment of Anthony Milnes as Head Cadet WO2 (Company Sergeant Major) was announced.

A wreath was placed on the School’s War Memorial by Head of School, Callum Todd and Deputy Head of School, Christina Kennedy, assisted by Junior Years’ pupils, sisters Emily and Rosie Patterson. Flowers o’ the Forest was played by Pupil Pipe Major Andrew Lothian before a two-minute silence was observed by the whole school community via a live stream of the Parade into classrooms. Our Rector, Lise Hudson, gave a reading before, in a particularly poignant moment of the proceedings, Head of School Laurence Petty delivered a tribute to CCF Contingent Lieutenant and much loved and missed Technology Teacher, Mr. David Preston, who very sadly died suddenly in August.

To allow the event to take place, strict safety guidelines were observed throughout, with the numbers taking part limited; physical distancing between those assembled; siblings or members of the same family fulfilling a number of the roles and the format of the Parade altered. You can watch a full recording of the parade here: bit.ly/2GSut2r.

In a further tribute to the fallen, the Pillars were illuminated red from 5th until 15th November to commemorate the end of the First World War. Thanks must be extended to AML Lighting for kindly providing the lighting. And on the morning of Wednesday 11th November, the School’s Pipe Major David Wilton marked Armistice Day by playing Flowers o’ the Forest from the balcony of the Royal Exchange Building. You can watch a video of David’s poignant tribute here: bit.ly/38y1vQY

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