HOLOCAUST INTERNATIONAL Womens’ DAY G


FS celebrated International Women’s day in March with a variety of workshops which took place both at lunchtime and after school.


These included a session led by Miss Hemmings on women finding


confidence in the workplace; a zine making workshop with Miss Williams; celebrating women in science and engineering with chocolate welding in the Science department; a celebration of female heroes with Miss Yandell; a slogan and banner making workshop inspired by the suffragettes with Miss Reddy; an exploration of women’s rights through music, rap and spoken word with Mrs Haciosman; some top tips from Beyonce, Michelle Obama and J.K Rowling and a women in STEM workshop with Miss Oldbury.


We were also thrilled to welcome a panel of female professionals who shared their life stories as well as giving the girls information about their current occupation and pathway to achieving success in their career.


SURVIVOR SHARES


EXPERIENCES WITH YEAR 9


I


n May we were very fortunate to have Holocaust survivor Bernd Koschland visit GFS to speak to our Year 9 students. Bernd was born in Germany in 1931 and as a child experienced the rising anti- Semitism of the 1930s, including Kristallnacht in 1938. He was evacuated from Germany to the UK before the war as part of the Kindertransport programme for child refugees.


Following the visit, our Year 9 students had the opportunity to reflect on Bernd’s talk and the importance of hearing the testimony of those who lived through the Nazi persecution of Jewish people and the events of the Holocaust. The following was written by Vanessa Imo of Year 9:


Speaking to the youth about these important past events is hard. Hard because it may appear to be irrelevant now, something our generation can’t relate to and something we won’t listen to. But it really is significant.


Hearing Bernd talk to us about his experiences was insightful and eye-opening. It made me realise that not all Holocaust survivors have a deeply dramatic and harrowing story to tell. It helped me to understand that the sickening statistics and facts in a textbook are more than just horrible events that happened some time ago. It made it real.


The Holocaust happened right here in Europe, and ordinary people, not unlike us, were made to follow Hitler and his cruel beliefs. Some put all of their faith in him and looked up to him. Though this seems ludicrous to us now, it is a part of history, and it could be a part of the future too. This is why it is essential that we educate people on such subjects, so that history cannot repeat itself and so that humanity’s past mistakes are not allowed to be made again.


GFS Newsletter SUMMER 2018 GFS Newsletter summer 2018.indd 9 06/07/2018 14:08:38


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