The Beacon School Programme
Towards the end of 2023, St Bart’s was selected to take part in the Beacon School Programme, which is an initiative of the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education. As the Holocaust moves away from living memory and with the rise of Holocaust deniers and those who distort this history, it is important that we do all we can to preserve the memory of those who fell victim to the Nazis and their collaborators.
The Beacon School Programme aims to deepen the historical knowledge and understanding of the Holocaust, through a developed focus in KS3 History. It is also hoped that the programme will enable students to tackle misinformation and combat claims made by those who wish to misrepresent the Holocaust.
Since embarking on this journey, St Bart’s has already made strides to achieve the aims of the project, these include:
- A developed KS3 History focus, utilising the support and guidance of leading academics in the field of Holocaust education
- The appointment of three Year 12 Beacon Captains, who have very recently interviewed Dan Stone (Professor of Modern History at Royal Holloway), as part of a new podcast series open to all students
- An improved series of targeted assemblies for all students (Year 7-13) in the lead up to Holocaust Memorial Day. These have focused on a range of Holocaust related topics including the Diary of Anne Frank (Year 7 & 8), defining the Holocaust (Year 9-11), forced labour (Year 12) and the Roma and Sinti genocide (Year 13)
- A Holocaust focused trip to Krakow, which is offered to Year 12, focused on pre-war Jewish life, the rise of antisemitism and the implications of the ‘Final Solution’
Some of our plans for 2024/2025 are to continue to improve the knowledge and understanding that our students have of the Holocaust through:
- The creation of an exhibition at St Bart’s, which will be open to students, staff and the immediate community and will be supported by the Wiener Library in London
- Establishing greater links to our local primary schools, with support of our Beacon Captains, with the aim of contributing towards PSHE curriculums
- Continued development of our Personal Development Programme offer, with the aim of improving a whole school approach in improving Holocaust education
- Working towards achieving our ‘quality mark’, which is awarded by UCL
Our commitment is to deepen and to secure the knowledge of our students. If you would like any further information or if you would like to get involved, please contact Mr Owen (Social Sciences) or Miss May (Humanities).
