A high school head has defended not having two minutes silence on armistice day - saying his pupils paid respect to the war dead at special assemblies during the week.

While people stood in silent tribute at war memorials at 11am on Thursday, school life went on much as usual at Sheringham high.

Head Tim Roderick said it fell in the middle of break time, but during the course of the week all 830 pupils had been involved in special 20-minute long assemblies looking at the issue of Remembrance,

'I hope people don't judge us because of the silence issue. We pride ourselves on the way we mark it with reflective poignant messages.'

Dr Andrew Richardson, the teacher who devised the assemblies said he contrasted the modern day sporting and showbusiness 'heroes' with the stories of local young men etched on the Upper Sheringham war memorial - such as the Dunt brothers, Sydney and Harold, who died within five days of each other at Loos on the Western Front, Frederick Dew who died in Mesopotamia, which is now Iraq, and Robert Pegg who died back in the UK just 10 days before the war ended.