For a second successive year the school has participated in the Lessons From Auschwitz project. This is a programme led by the Holocaust Education Trust which aims to increase understanding of the horrors of the Holocaust by encouraging students to partake in a three part course. Two parts of the course are classroom based and this year included a talk by a Holocaust survivor called Steven Frank. The course also includes a day long visit to Poland with a visit to Auschwitz as part of it.
This year our school representatives were Emily (12HAD) and Anna (13MAC). Both girls have been fabulous representatives for the programme and have fed back on their reflections and experiences in both a Whole School Assembly and a lunchtime 'Think Tank' session. Both Emily and Anna were keen to stress the importance of learning the dangers of seeing the Holocaust as an isolated incident and not recognizing that it was a long-developing process, which started with intolerance of other cultures and faiths. In their Whole School Assembly, Anna and Emily stressed the importance of tolerance as a Christian value and the importance of ordinary people speaking up whenever they see it.
The school is thankful for the way that Emily and Anna have engaged with the project and helped us all to better understand the nature of the Holocaust. We will continue to send representatives on the Lessons From Auschwitz Project where possible and will always make sure that tolerance of diversity is a fundamental pillar of our educational ethos.