Above: Holocaust Memorial Day

For several years Holybrook Primary School have been the ‘greeters' at Bradford's Holocaust Memorial Day. This year they passed on the honour to Keelham Primary School, but not before the schools worked together on a project about the Holocaust, culminating in a shared assembly exploring the importance of standing by those in need.

Year six children in both schools focused on the stories of children, young people, hiders and rescuers; all stories of hope. They came together on the 23rd January 2007 to share this work and to finally perform a joint key stage two assembly, using the Pretenders' song ‘I'll Stand By You,' as the soundtrack to the assembly content.

The children from Holybrook (the ‘Stripes') wore clothes and badges that set them apart. They were bullied, persecuted and insulted ...... by their head teacher!

All the children reflected upon the treatment of minority groups in the Holocaust and the ways in which certain individuals stood by those who were persecuted and were prepared to put themselves at risk for others.

To the words of the song ‘I'll Stand By You' the Keelham children one by one, removed the badges from the ‘Stripes' and ‘liberated' them.

The children shared their work about people who helped the persecuted of the Holocaust; reflecting on the fact that it is necessary to remember and to use one's knowledge of the past, to ensure that history is not repeated in the future.

The assembly closed with a presentation of an inspiring, framed quote, from Holybrook to Keelham:

‘All that it needs for evil to flourish is for good people to do nothing.'
- Edmund Burke.

As a result of the success of this collaborative work Holybrook and Keelham will continue to ‘stand by' each other. With the help of their Headteachers, these schools from very different communities in Bradford, will take part in more shared projects and social events in the future.