Black History Month

As part of Hasmonean High School’s commitment to life in the UK, we proudly celebrated Black History Month by dedicating lessons for an entire day to this important and special cause. Last month, students were taught about contributions made by Black people to British life, both past and present, in all of their lessons. Among other things, students learned about contributions made by Black people to the fields of literature and science, learned about the history of the Civil Rights movement, learned about the geographical displacement of Black people and about different Jewish African communities in Madagascar and Nigeria, and learned about the lives of Ethiopian Jews in Israel.

Rabbi Michael Pollack also spoke to the Year 10 boys on the subject of: ‘How should Jews react to the murder of George Floyd.’ He explored and discussed racism in the USA and the Jewish response to that racism.

The day was an incredible success with teachers planning outstanding lessons and students being fully engaged in the learning, discussions and debates that were held across their lessons. It was so wonderful to see the entire Hasmonean community come together to deal with such an important topic and we are confident this is just the beginning of our commitment to celebrating wider British society.

Thank you to Mr Kalley, Mrs Abecasis and all the staff who created this interesting, innovative event.