Recently, S6 pupils Sophie Glancy and Ruaridh Langan visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps in Poland as part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz programme.

Reflecting on their experience, Ruaridh said, “Auschwitz was a life-changing experience that I’ll never forget. You can’t help but feel sorrow and terror as you see what innocent people went through.”
Sophie agreed, and added, “Hearing the stories of survivors but also the stories of those who died made me incredibly angry. I feel that this relates much more to this day and age than people realise and we must do everything we can to prevent this from happening again.”

Both Sophie and Ruaridh are now in the process of completing the Next Steps phase of the programme. This involves them taking on an ambassadorial role within the school community in order to spread awareness of the Holocaust. In January, Sophie and Ruaridh will address year group assemblies as part of the school’s commemorations of Holocaust Memorial Week.

On Thursday 29th October 2015, Sophie Glancy and Ruaridh Langan (both S6) visited Poland as part of the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz programme. While there, Sophie and Ruaridh visited the synagogue in Krakow, then went to the Auschwitz/Birkenau camps.
During Holocaust Memorial Week in late January, Sophie and Ruaridh will share their experiences with year-group assemblies. In the meantime, here are a number of photographs that they took while at Auschwitz 1 and Birkenau.

Please make use of the revision materials uploaded here. They include:

– unit timelines
– revision spider diagrams for essays
– PowerPoint presentations with essay writing/exam hints and tips

More materials will be updated in due course. Meanwhile, get stuck in!

On Thursday 5th March, Higher History pupils attended an all-day revision conference in Paisley Town Hall. The aim of the conference was to provide advice on exam technique relating to essay writing and answering source-based questions. The speakers at the event included past and present chief examiners of history, and the author of a number of history course textbooks.

All pupils participated fully in the day’s events, and seemed to find the course useful.

Supported Study resumes this week for upper school pupils.

Mondays: Higher History

Tuesdays: National 5 History

Also, remember that you can drop in to the department at lunchtimes for some support with your work, or simply to find a quiet space to work on your own:

Tuesdays: S1 – S3

Fridays: S4-S6

Jill and Katie made this movie to reflect on their visit and to share with the whole school.

S6 History pupils Jill Kelly and Katie Dillon visited Auschwitz concentration camp in October as part of the ‘Lessons from Auschwitz Project’. This project aims to educate young people about the events of the Holocaust and consider lessons for today. Jill and Katie will share their experience with the whole school during Assemblies.
Here is Katie’s account of the girls’ experience at Auschwitz:
“On the 7th of October Jill Kelly and I were given the opportunity to go to Poland in order to visit Auschwitz. We had only a day to appreciate our surroundings but what we did see was truly harrowing. The conditions and constant fear of death the prisoners had to endure was absolutely horrifying and still plagues the atmosphere to this day.
One of the aspects that Jill and I, along with most others on the tour, found most upsetting was in the museum where we witnessed the vast amounts of personal belongings and even the hair of the victims. It demonstrated the sheer scale of the masses affected by this tragedy.
The experience was very upsetting but I’m glad that I had the opportunity to see this as it has forced me to reflect on the true horror of the Holocaust and has truly moved me.”

On Christmas Day 1914, for a short period of time, the guns on parts of the Western Front fell silent. Elsewhere the war raged on and the casualties continued to mount. This week in Stephen’s High School we have taken some time to remember the events of that day, and to pay our respect to the men, and boys, who fought and died in the ‘war to end all wars’.
In particular we have chosen to remember John Bellringer, a young man from Port Glasgow. John was born in 1892 and lived in Glen Avenue, Ballochmyle Place, Port Glasgow and also in Clovelly Cottage, Clune Brae. He was the youngest of 6 children and the son of Edward and Jane Bellringer. At the age of 20 John was an apprentice draughtsman and also a keen footballer. He was signed to Ayr United Football Club, and made 1 appearance. The Club state that ‘Bellringer’s fate was to make the supreme sacrifice without becoming a club luminary.’

In 1912, John joined the Territorial Forces. His medical report shows that John was 5ft 7 inches tall and of good physical development. He was assigned service number 1326 and began his career with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. When war broke out John was quickly promoted to the position of Corporal.
Corporal John Bellringer 1326, 1st/5th Bn., Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, died on 12th July 1915 aged 23. He died in the battle of Achi Baba Nullah, which was fought on 12-13 July 1915. John’s body was never found and no personal effects were returned to his family. John is commemorated on the Helles Memorial, Gallipoli, Turkey.
We have chosen to remember Corporal John Bellringer as he came from Port Glasgow, he was a footballer and he died on 12th July 1915, a day when so many soldiers from this area lost their lives.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of Vincent Gillen at the McLean Museum in Greenock, Sue Thomas McNelly and the S3 History Club in helping us to gather this information.

The History Department

Have a look at these press cuttings relating to Inverclyde, football and WWI. Thanks to Vincent Gillen at McLean Museum in Greenock for these!

Inverclyde, Football and WWI