Over the last few weeks, Bishop Luffa has spent time reflecting on the horrors of the Holocaust, as we approached Holocaust Memorial Day. Students had assemblies that explained the importance of Holocaust Memorial Day (Saturday 27th January) , including genocides that have occurred since 1945, and also the persecution faced by other groups within Nazi Germany. Students also heard from Harry Appleby and Tom Miller (both Y13) about their recent visit to Auschwitz with the Holocaust Memorial Trust, and the significance of this site.
Beyond this, all students have helped to create a piece of display work that celebrates the freedom that we often take for granted. Once complete, this will hang in the Bartlett Hall as a reminder of the freedoms we have, and that others lost.
We were also fortunate to gain places for a screening of the animated film "Where is Anne Frank" at New Park Cinema, which was attended by a group of Year 9 students led by Mr Petts and Mrs Shuttleworth. As some of them wrote
'Our trip to New Park Cinema for ‘Chichester Marks Holocaust Memorial Day’ helped grow our understanding of the damage that the Nazis did to average people's lives during the Holocaust. We will be open minded and be able to notice situations where people's rights are threatened, and be able to try to stop it. We thought the film was moving and it also made us more emotionally aware of the experiences of the Jews and other groups that Hitler tried to discriminate against and persecute.'
It is important that we reflect on the horrors of the past so that we can strive to help avoid such things happening again. Students were attentive in assembly, and showed a great sense of maturity at the screening of the film, and my thanks must go to all the staff who have supported the important work we do to help remember these terrible events.
Mr J Barnett, Head of Humanities