Joseph Lewkowicz – Holocaust Survivor

On Thursday 21^st November Year 12 were incredibly lucky to hear from Jospeh Lekowicz a survivor of the Holocaust. They watched a film recently made about his life and heard his inspirational story.

The whole event was inspiring and the students were deeply affected by it.

“For me as a young Jewish man, meeting a survivor from the worst persecution any race has ever suffered was, as cliché as it sounds, life changing. Hearing the stories from a hero who lived through it allowed everyone to connect and understand a little bit more how awful it was. It is impossible for us to comprehend what happened, however the talk gave us that insight and understanding on what truly happened. Reading books and watching films does not compare to meeting a holocaust survivor in the flesh. He is a truly incredible man and I believe everybody should hear his story and I feel truly privileged to have met and listened to him speak. I cannot thank him enough.”

Sammy Reid, Year 12

25th November: Year 11 Taster Day – wellbeing assembly
All year 11 students were off table today in order to experience an A Level “Taster Day” where all of the A level courses run a number of sessions in order to support students making their A level choices.
The day kicked off with an assembly by Mr Harshak (wellbeing officer) who spoke to all students about meeting the challenges of the next few months and coping with the pressures which come with preparation for the exams.
A number of year 12 students also presented at the assembly, sharing their own personal experiences of this period.

On Sunday 17^th November a number of Sixth Form students participated in the annual Ajex ceremony. The parade started at 13.30 at the Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall. The students held a banner identifying the school and marched in honour and memory of all Jewish men and women who have served this country, and of the victims of the Holocaust. The parade also serves as an important reminder of the extraordinary service given to this country by British Jews since the 1750s and we are proud that Yavneh College students were a part of this event.

Two representatives (one of which is a nurse) came from the charity Medicines Sans Frontier (Doctors without borders) to speak to Geography Society about their work in the developing world. Medicines Sans Frontier provides medical care all over the world to victims of natural disasters, war or disease outbreaks. The nurse spoke of the situations she was in in South Sudan in temporary hospitals saving children from malnutrition, TB and other life threatening situations. She also spoke of her time in Haiti in 2010, providing emergency medical aid to victims of the earthquake. The students were extremely engaged, and wish they had more time to ask more questions. It was a really fantastic lunch time, and gave students an insight into life in such poor countries and how MSF can help some of the victims.