Call for school pupils across the country to be taught about Hillsborough
Teachers in a school on Merseyside has launched a petition calling for the Hillsborough disaster to be taught on the National Curriculum across the country.
Teachers at a school on Merseyside has launched a petition calling for the Hillsborough disaster to be taught on the National Curriculum across the country.
Staff at South Wirral High School in Eastham are proposing that lessons should be brought in for pupils in Key Stages 3 & 4 to teach them about the disaster and the families 27 year long fight for the truth.
96 men, women and children died in a crush in the Leppings Lane end of Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield on the 15th April 1989, during the FA Cup semi final between Liverpool & Nottingham Forest. Last month an inquest jury in Warrington found they were unlawfully killed, and the fans played no part in the tragedy. South Yorkshire Police, the Ambulance Service and the FA were heavily criticised.
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The petition read:
In 1989, 96 Liverpool fans were unlawfully killed at Hillsborough during the FA Cup Semi Final. There are 1000s of school children today that have little knowledge about the disaster. I propose that it should be included in the National Curriculum at key stages 3 and 4.
I am head of Geography and Citizenship at South Wirral High School and for the past 4 years we have held a "Hillsborough day" for year 10. The day includes 4 key lessons: the truth, the fight for justice, the role of the media and the legacy on football. The day has been so well received by year 10. I want every child in the country to learn the truth about the events that day so that no child grows up with misconceptions about Hillsborough. Importantly, I want the legacy of the 96 to live on.
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Graham Jones is the Head of Geography & PSHE and Citizenship at South Wirral High School, and set up the petition.
He said "For the past four years we've held a Hillsborough day here at the school - that day incvo;ves 4 lessons, on the truth, the fight for justice, the legacy, the role of the media and the aftermath of the disaster"
The lessons were backed by the Hillsborough families including Margaret Aspinal who personally attended the lessons
Graham said : "Margaret said it's brilliant that the fact that people here know an awful lot, but it really needs to be across the whole of the country - This year I decided that I would start the petition so thatall young people learn the truth and more importantly the legacy of the 96 live on."
The idea is to incorporate lessons on the Hillsborough disaster into exsiting PSHE lessons,
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"We teach life studies lessons, so that's how it will fall into our Curriculum. In our legacy lesson, we look into the impact that the disaster had on Football Stadia, one the idea of the truth and here we have our own South Wirral independent enquiry, and what the students do is look through the evidence of the day and they come up with their own enquiry, and that's how we like to teach it, through critical thinking."
"It's about the students becoming independent learners. The response from the children is emotional."
Often they've heard snippets of information, but when they look into the issues in such depth, they get a real sense about what Hillsborough is all about, the kind of fight the families have had, and they come away with a real sense of being part of a community that cares, and fought for truth and justice."
You can sign Graham's petition by following the link below.