Holocaust speaker shares family stories

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After learning about the Holocaust this term in History, Year 8 students were privileged to be visited by a speaker from the Holocaust Educational Trust. Due to the Holocaust being around eighty years ago, we are not able to hear from survivors any more. However, a new generation of speakers are now sharing the stories of their families. On Tuesday Susan Bermange, daughter of Holocaust survivor Berek Obuchowski shared her story.  

Berek was eleven when the Nazis invaded Ozorkow Poland in 1939. Almost immediately, many of his family were selected and sent to Chelmo extermination camp. Berek and his sister were sent to Lodz ghetto where he spent three and half years. He was then transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau where he was separated from his sister; he never saw her again. After a few months he was sent on a death march towards Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia. He stayed here until its liberation on 20th April 1945.  As he was now an orphan he was selected to come to Britain and stay at a rehabilitation centre in Windermere. After 3 months he left the camp finally settling in London. Where he met his wife and had 2 children, 5 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren. Berek was significantly involved in Holocaust Education. With him sharing his testimony in schools and  other organisations across the UK for several years.  Susan has now taken over his legacy and we are the first group to hear her speak.

Students found the whole experience thought-provoking and when asked for feedback here are some of the things they wrote. 

Why is it still important for us to hear survivors’ stories ?

  • It’s important for younger generations to know about these horrific events
  • I think it’s important because it helps us hear about the real experiences of survivors and creates a real life link to the subject 

Why is learning about the Holocaust still relevant today?

  • Because it was one of the most important events in history and affected the entire world.
  • because it’s very significant and is MASS GENOCIDE

How has the experience of hearing from a survivor family helped you to learn more about the Holocaust?

  • It helped me understand a more in depth someone’s experiences
  • It tells us in the full truth of the working conditions and how they lived of the bare minimum to survive and they needed miracles to get out of there alive

What are you going to tell others about what you heard today?

  • I’m going to tell them how the Holocaust was and how people survived 
  • I’m going to tell others how horrible the experience was

Why is it important to tell others?

  • So they can learn about it and so the stories are never forgotten 
  • Because we should tell the story of people, and how they have lived and survived and even died  so their legacy lives on.

 

Library update – Staff book club, Accessing KWS library over summer and the Summer Reading Challenge

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STAFF BOOK CLUB

For our Staff Book Club, staff agree on a book to read and arrange to meet up in our school library during home learning club once a half term to discuss it; this allows students to see us as reading role models and it benefits our wellbeing too. Everyone has their own perspective so the discussions are varied and interesting.

In June/July we read: The Girls Who Disappeared  by Claire Douglas

We all enjoyed the book and discussed the various theories we had had as we read the book. We were impressed with how the two narratives eventually combined, but felt the ending was a bit rushed.

Twenty years ago: One rainy night, Olivia Rutherford is driving three friends home when a figure in the road causes her to swerve and crash. Regaining consciousness, she finds herself alone in the car – her friends have vanished. THEY ARE NEVER SEEN AGAIN.

Now: Journalist Jenna Halliday visits the close-knit community of Stafferbury to persuade Olivia to talk and solve the mystery of the girls’ disappearance.

Our Staff Book Club summer read is – Penance by Eliza Clark

 

ACCESSING KWS EBOOKS AND AUDIOBOOKS OVER SUMMER – EPLATFORM

Don’t forget, you can use the elibrary when you can’t come into the library for printed books. Visit the KWS library tab on your Chromebook and follow the instructions on the page to sign in and access a huge amount of books.

 

SUMMER READING CHALLENGE

The Summer Reading Challenge has begun! Visit your local library or go online to get involved.
https://summerreadingchallenge.org.uk/

Happy Summer Reading everyone!

KWS Sport

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Sports Day

 

Well done to all those that participated so fantastically during our annual Sports Days. There were a total of 20 individual events for students to score points on, including the traditional athletics events such as 100m, javelin and shot put, but also other events such as Beat the Goalie, Netball/Basketball Shoot and various fitness tests. Kurling, Archery and Ten Pin Bowling also made an appearance this year for the first time too! Then, Friday afternoon, also known as Finals Afternoon, saw the whole school out on the field watching the final of the House Tug of War competition, in addition to witnessing the fastest students in the school competing in some highly competitive racing for 100m, 200m and 800m. We then concluded with a hotly contested staff relay race! Well done to all race winners and participants. For the individual events, the following students finished in the top 3 for their year group: 

 

Year 7 Winners
1 Sophie D 1 Elliot G
2 Anna M 2 Harris M-M
3 Isabelle S 3 Daniel P
Year 8 Winners
1 Rose S 1 Max T-L
2 Heidi G 2 Charlie B
3 Bea B 3 Dylan McE
Year 9 Winners
1 Florence C 1 Harry S
2 Heidi P-S 2 Jesse G
3 Sophie C 3 Henry G
Year 10 Winners
1 Emily B 1 Oliver S
2 Cobie W 2 Ollie T
3 Eden A 3 Hayden L

 

Ali were crowned overall house winners of Sports Day for the first time in their history. Congratulations to everyone who contributed towards their win!

 

Sports Awards

 

Thank you to all students who attended our first ever KWS Sports Awards evening and well done to all our nominees and winners. It was fantastic to celebrate your successes in sport this year.

 

Special mention to Sophie K in Year 7 and Finlay R in Year 8 winning Young Sport Personality of the Year and Jack D in Year 11 for winning the overall Sports Personality of the Year.

 

Rugby in September

 

Lastly, thinking ahead to September, we have rugby fixtures starting earlier in the term so focus will shift quickly to training and preparing ourselves for these. Training will start the first Saturday back, as well as midweek training too, so please encourage your child to try out for these teams – they will need a gum shield and boots. Please see below the fixtures for the upcoming season (these are also available on the website: 

 

21 September 2024 Rugby St Columba’s
28 September 2024 Rugby RPS
12 October 2024 Rugby Sandringham
19 October 2024 Rugby Watford Grammar School
16 November 2024 Rugby Dame Alice Owens
23 November 2024 Rugby SJL
30 November 2024 Rugby SRA
7 December 2024 Rugby Beaumont

 

The PE department wishes everyone a fantastic summer and we look forward to sport continuing to grow and being championed next year.

Dance Masterclass

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On Friday 12th July the KWS Dance Company were fortunate enough to take part in a Dance Masterclass taught by Clare Gower a second year student at the prestigious Urdang Academy. Clare has an impressive background in the performing arts and dance, having performed in TV from a young age.

The students were taken through some body conditioning exercises before learning some choreography in both Contemporary and Commercial Dance. The masterclass ended with a Q and A session, allowing the students to ask about the industry and Clare’s journey.

Thank you to Clare and a well done to all the students in KWS Dance Company, for such a fantastic masterclass!

Miss Patterson

 

Y10 Army Day

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Year 10 students were put through their paces by members of the Colchester Army Outreach Team as part of the KWS Careers programme. Students were required to work in teams to complete the ‘Tyre Challenge’ (moving numbered tyres across to the opposite side, within specific rules), ‘Minefield’ (using ropes, a hook and a helmet to rescue equipment from a “minefield”) and ‘River Crossing’ (utilising planks to cross the “crocodile infested river” and transport vital equipment over). The students’ teamwork skills were very impressive as they immersed themselves in tasks and some unlikely leaders showed their capacity to communicate and encourage their team members to complete the challenges successfully.

At the end of the school day, the Army volunteers gave a presentation about apprenticeships in the Army, outlining the requirements for entry and progression routes within the Army following completion of the apprenticeships. The talk was extremely informative and sparked many individual questions from students at the end.

 

 

Transition Day for new Year 7’s

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What a buzz we had on Thursday 11th July as all of our new Year 7’s entered KWS ready to meet their new form tutors and classmates. After a Headteacher’s welcome assembly they all went into their form bases for the day to get to know each other and go through our KWS expectations as they embark on this schooling chapter.

In between taster lessons including KS3 Science lab experiments, Spanish lessons and more, students were presented with literacy and numeracy  literature to go over in their summer holidays.

A big thank you to the PE department led by Mr Alexander who orchestrated a lunch time event for all the new starters where they chose between various PE activities which proved a big hit as always.

Feedback included many compliments to the catering company who served delicious meals including all dietary requirements. All students with allergies/intolerances were taken to meet our kitchen staff, reassured that their needs will also be included into the daily menu.

Some parents were also keen to let me know how happy their child was after initial nerves and that they are now joining onto our beneficial Summer School programme in August for new Year 7’s.

Thank you to all staff involved,
Miss Annie

KWS Transition Lead