Gosport primary School children become junior field gunners

Children at a Gosport school have become the first in the area to train as Junior Field Gunners
Rowner Junior School pupils with their field gun.Rowner Junior School pupils with their field gun.
Rowner Junior School pupils with their field gun.

A team of youngsters from Rowner Junior School, part of the Gosport and Fareham Multi Academy Trust, have been learning how to assemble and disassemble field guns. For a town synonymous with the Royal Navy it was a fitting learning experience for pupils.

Year 6 pupil, Grace Robinson, 11, whose dad is in the navy, said: ‘It’s really nice because my dad helps out with it. He used to do the field gun drill. It’s fun but it’s also dangerous which makes it risky, which is why I liked it.’

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Year 5 pupil, Jayden Jones, added: ‘We all worked together and were very resilient. We didn’t know each other when we started but by the end we all knew each other and what our roles were.’

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Run by Future Fit health and fitness experts, it is the first time the organisation has worked with a school in the Gosport and Portsmouth area.

Project manager, David Worrall, runs the national scheme across schools. He said: ‘The biggest thing that they get out of it is that field gun assembly is very disciplined. There is a lot of team work and they do get a lot of physical exercise out of it.

‘When they do it in front of their parents and other schools they can become quite proud of what they have achieved.’

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To support the school, The HMS Ganges Association, who run a naval museum, presented a cheque of £850 to pay for their field gun equipment.

Kerry Sharpe, assistant headteacher at the school, said: ‘We thought it would be a fantastic opportunity because we have a high percentage of service children in our school community.’

Teaching assistant, Michelle Connor, added: ‘It helps them to work as a team and to rely on each other. It lets them prove themselves even if they aren’t so academic. It doesn’t matter who takes part - it’s open to everybody.

‘They really enjoyed it - they absolutely love it. It has proven very popular.’

Meanwhile shoppers at Asda in Gosport donated a total of £417 which will enable the school to buy children field gun uniforms.

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