From Nic Wetherall
As we approached the end of term, RWBA held it’s Year 9 annual Holocaust Awareness Day. As this fell on the week marking the 30th anniversary of culmination of genocide in Bosnia, we decided upon a theme of ‘Building Bridges: people, places and spaces’ allowing us to bridge time and geography and humanise the history and experiences whilst drawing upon prior knowledge.
The day was proceeded by Year 9 watching extracts from ‘My Family, the Holocaust and Me’ to focus on the journey of Bernie Graham as he explored and discovered more about his maternal family, the Federmanns of Frankfurt, and their Holocaust related experiences. This prior learning was essential ahead of our welcoming Bernie on our awareness day.
The day itself began with ten tutor groups accessing an information and contextual intro the Bosnian war and regional conflict of 1990s. And then across periods 2, 3 and 4 students rotated through three workshops on a carousel.
The first was a photo pack activity designed to enrich and extend students awareness of Bernie’s journey, by unpacking the labels of victim, perpetrator, resistor/rescuer, bystander and collaborator through individual examples from Frankfurt, Dachau and Germany.
The second was ‘Play to Remember’ as students, working with colleagues in PE, to reflect on the power of sport, with a focus on Herman Federmann’s experience, but also a quote from a Bosnian survivor, Smajo Beso, who explained that what divided kids like him in Bosnia 30 years ago was not their religion or ethnicity but rather the books they read, films they watched and the football team they supported.
The third was an interactive assembly/Q&A with Bernie, allowing students to ‘meet’ and engage with Bernie – and students came to appreciate the experience of the second generation.
After lunch students had the chance to hear direct testimony from Smajo Beso. Smajo shared with us his journey from genocide in Bosnia to a new life in Newcastle. The story engaged, moved and inspired deep reflection within the pupils in equal measure. Smajo’s connection with the pupils was evidenced in our final task.
We were to take a section each of the outline of the Mostar Bridge and decorate it with words we had encountered during the day. Truly bridging the stories, time, geography, people, places and spaces. When the sections of the bridge were put back together, the pupils had created a word art montage that reflected stories of both families and the learning that and taken place. The display is a poignant reminder that freedom is not guaranteed. It is vital that we remember the past, to ensure a brighter tomorrow.
We were delighted to welcome UCL’s Luke Sarsons who supported our work and we welcomed our great friend and fellow Beacon alumni Charlotte Lane. Together it made for a special day of learning and reflection, and this would not have been possible without Mr Radford, Mr Storey, Dr Wetherall, Mr I’Anson and the Humanities and PE teams and teaching assistants. It was a powerful shared learning that touched hearts and minds and contributed much to our ongoing commitment and enduring values as a UCL Beacon School
