KEIGHLEY year seven pupils are among youngsters from only six schools to have their work chosen for a project focusing on lesser known contributions to the First World War effort.

Compositions by children from University Academy Keighley (UAK) were selected for a National Literacy Trust case study on behalf of The Royal British Legion’s "Thank You" campaign.

The campaign concentrates on people whose role during the war is not usually highlighted.

Pupils chose to study female surgeons Louisa Anderson, Flora Murray and Elsie Inglis.

Using National Literacy Trust and Royal British Legion resources they examined the life stories of these women, then wrote thank you letters to them.

UAK English teacher, Farhat Alam, said: “It’s been brilliant. The students got stuck into the biographies and did some beautiful work.

"We had really engaging conversations about what it was like for women before the war and what it’s like now because of the work of people like Elsie Inglis and Flora Murray.

"It was useful for the students to think about remembrance differently. They know lots of soldiers fought, but it’s harder to make that link back to their own lives and why we're still thinking about them 100 years on.

"Using the experience of the surgeons, we were able to put that traditional idea of remembrance into a broader context."

The pupils' letters form part of a case study produced by The National literacy Trust. It is hoped the letters will go on to be published in a remembrance collection.