Our school is proud to be accredited as a UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, and this Beacon Status means that we place a high emphasis on the teaching and thinking around the Jewish genocide during WW2.
The Holocaust is the most extensively documented genocide in a long history of atrocity and reveals the full range of human behaviour, from appalling acts of hatred to extraordinary courage. It raises profound questions about the human condition, making Holocaust education ideal for stimulating independent enquiry across a whole range of key stages and subjects.
Last week we welcomed Holocaust survivor Ernest Simon to the school and he relayed his testimony to 150 Y10 and Y12 History students. Naturally, the personal detail, the first-hand perspective and connecting the Mr Simon in front of us with the learning acquired in exam courses had a profound effect on the students and staff.
Paul Calder, Head of History, said: ‘The visit shows our continued commitment to our Beacon School status in Holocaust education and is part of a program of events across the year. We are particularly pleased to have a survivor visit as this gives a personal narrative to the tragic events connected to the Holocaust. Mr Simon who speaks in schools and colleges about his family’s experiences for the Holocaust Educational Trust, came to England from Vienna alone at the age of eight in 1939, on the Kindertransport ,but was lucky to be one of the fortunate few to be reunited with his parents and brother. The family settled in Leeds, but his father was interned on the Isle of Man for a year as an “enemy alien”. It wasn’t until 1942 that they could all live together.
For more information about our Beacon School Status visit: https://www.holocausteducation.org.uk/courses-events/beacon-schools/
