As part of our Holocaust Beacon School Status we make sure that we remind our students of the lessons learn from the past regarding racism, discrimination and intolerance.
We dovetail this with encouraging our students to read widely. All evidence shows that those students who read regularly improve their language, understanding of the world, and of course their exam results too. Our School Library holds many reading books but there are 19 specific to the Holocaust, as well as more general history texts that cover the topic. Many of these specific reading books are fiction so are easy to read and they can be broken down by our librarian to be age appropriate.
Examples of titles include Lyn Smith’s ’Forgotten Voices of the Holocaust’, Jane Shuter’s ‘Auschwitz’, Robert Swindells’ ‘Brother in the Land’, and of course Anne Frank’s diary is in there too.
Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “There are so many competing voices preaching intolerance, hatred, and the like and it is our role to offer a more positive and inspiring future. If a school’s job is not to teach humanity, then it is difficult to understand what it is. We would encourage all students to read widely, and this topic is a great one to look at.”
