On Monday in Chapel, we sang the hymn The Servant King and heard words from Psalm 103.  Holocaust Memorial Day was observed internationally on Friday 27 January and with this in mind, Mr Daughton talked about the Mongol empire and Genghis Khan. The Mongols were responsible for opening up trade routes between the East and the West, gave tax breaks to traders, standardised money, encouraged the freedom of religion and established an international postal system unmatched for the next 500 years. They were also responsible for genocide - around 80 million people were killed in the expansion of their empire, about 10% of the World's population.

Mr Daughton then spoke about the murder of 6 million Jews by the Nazis, encouraging us to remember this time in history, as many of those who could testify to this were now in their nineties and soon we would no longer have them as a physical reminder. Their stories must be told and we should endeavour to ensure that genocide does not happen again. Revd Vindra ended with a prayer written by the Council of Christians and Jews, encouraging us to treat each other with value and respect.

Click here to read Mr Daughton’s address.

On Wednesday, Miss Greensmith with the help of Year 11 students hosted a quiz on bullying and reminded us that if we could intervene in the first 10 seconds of an incident, we could make a difference. We sang the hymn Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer and the Bible reading looked at the story of Moses, how he acted as a bystander, and it resulted in him being exiled from Egypt. In exile, he would acquire the gifts he needed to eventually succeed in liberating his people from slavery in Egypt.

Wishing you all a rest and peace this weekend,

Rev'd Vindra Maraj-Ogden
Chaplain