Staff and pupils at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy (RWBA) are the first school nationally to be reaccredited as a Quality Mark UCL Beacon School for commitment to Holocaust Education.
RWBA was given the news of its reaccreditation on Holocaust Memorial Day, 27 January.
Being one of approximately 10 original schools chosen to pilot the UCL Beacon School programme in 2012, the Academy says it has strived to show its commitment to highlighting Holocaust and genocide studies throughout the curriculum.
Dr Andy Pearce UCL Reviewer said: “The Quality Mark award is a means of recognising those schools with an ongoing and unrelenting commitment to making sure that the Holocaust education they provide is of the highest standard.
"The award is earned, not given; meaning that this is an achievement that schools work incredibly hard to attain. I wholeheartedly commend and congratulate all who are involved in RWBAs Beacon School activities.
As a Beacon School they have marked Holocaust Memorial Day (HMD) with a series of events centred around this year’s theme ‘One Day’.
Sophie Staniforth, a History teacher at the Academy and has been involved with the planning of events, “There are lessons across the week relating to HMD. With each year group responding and engaging with a different survivor story. Every department does something to link to the Holocaust.
Charlie I’Anson, head of PE at the Academy said: “We use the power of PE and sport by getting active around this year’s ‘one day’ focus. We honour HMD through ‘one day’ of activity. PE staff completed 24hrs of activity, and students completed an activity based around 2 and 4 to represent 24 hours in ‘one day’.
The department also learned about Jewish survivors who went on to have sporting success.
Teacher Nicola Wetherall, who has received an MBE for her services to Holocaust Education, Genocide Prevention and Human Rights Awareness said: “Sir Ben Helfgott survived many camps and went on to represent the UK in weightlifting. We try to find a lens for students to identify with these survivors and events.
Asked why it is so important to remember the Holocaust Nicola explains: “It’s about equipping pupils to be global citizens to be informed, that they do have a voice and there are warning signs. This doesn’t just happen by chance in any one society so there are little things every single day, it’s how they treat each other in the corridor and the respect they show each other.
RWBA has been honoured to host a number of survivor testimonies throughout the years.
Nicola explained how students engage with these important visitors: "Of course, quite a lot of the survivors that students have encountered have been kids, by very nature they’ve survived because they were young otherwise, they would have long since died.
"Zigi Shipper BEM, who’s come to our school regularly, was 92 last month, he was a child, a teenager, so immediately you’ve got that hook with kids, even the tricky kids, even the hard to reach kids, there’s something about those experiences even though they’re traumatic, even though they’re horrific, even though they’re extreme, there’s some degree of resonance, there’s some degree of adversity, there’s some degree of connection or hook and if it’s somebody like Zigi then he’s got a sparkle in his eye and a story to tell and they’re in the palm of his hand.”
Year 12 student Zach Coventry adds: “I think it’s been really beneficial to hear other people's stories about genocide. You always see it on the news or read about it, but you never really understand their stories till you really go into it. Hearing personal stories makes it more human, more personal, instead of just statistics on a screen it’s an actual story that they’ve told.”
Concluding his report, Dr Andy Pearce commented: “There is ample evidence to suggest that because of the work that is taking place at RWBA, its students have every opportunity to become the adults of tomorrow that we need.”
The Academy would usually have a showcase event planned to mark HMD such as survivor testimony, however in the current climate, a majority of this year’s testimonies and experiences have been online or remote. To learn more about UCL Centre for Holocaust Education visit https://holocausteducation.org.uk
RWBA is part of the Royal Wootton Bassett Academy Trust, for more information please visit www.rwba.org.uk and www.rwbatrust.org.uk
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