In February two of our Year 12 pupils, Sophie Lewis and Sarah Ricketts, participated in the national Lessons From Auschwitz Project organised by the Holocaust Education Trust.

The Project involved gaining some contextual knowledge about the Holocaust in an orientation seminar where they were able to hear a Holocaust survivor, Kitty Hart-Moxon speak about her life before, during and immediately after the Holocaust.

This was then followed with a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau for a day, followed by another afternoon seminar to discuss the experiences and lessons learned from the visit. The pupils then had to complete a Next Steps Project: a way of disseminating the lessons they have learned to their school and community. Sophie and Sarah chose to write an article about what they had learned from the visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau for their Next Steps Project, and I’m sure you’ll agree it is an articulate, moving and challenging piece.

The pupils are sending this article to a number of people, including MPs and newspapers to try to raise awareness of the suffering endured by victims of genocide and the need to remember the Holocaust on Holocaust Memorial Day in order to try to learn lessons from the past. Their article, together with a reflective statement about the Project, has been submitted to the University of Hull for the pupils to be awarded a certificate of credit (10 points) at level 4 (first year of a degree programme).

Both Sophie and Sarah were a credit to Whitchurch High School throughout the Project. They contributed to the seminars with confidence, insight and thoughtfulness and behaved with the utmost respect and maturity during the visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau, despite the very cold conditions (-20 degrees!).

Indeed, Sophie impressed so much in the orientation seminar that she was one of five pupils chosen out of nearly 200 to give a reading in a moving memorial service held at Birkenau at sunset in which every person lit a candle to leave on the infamous railway lines.

Both girls gave up their free time to attend the seminars (8 hours in total) held on a week night and weekend as well as to write the article.

Click Here to read theor article.