When I arrived at Brighton Girls, one of my stated aims was to “fuse the classroom and the community”. The idea was to create an educational experience that was rooted in place, that would foster connections with local people, celebrate the cultural diversity and creativity of the city, and encourage us to be outward-looking in all that we do. Of course, this ethos has been present and growing since the school’s foundation in 1876, but let’s just say that, these days, we tend to make it more visible; we’ve put it centre-stage.
If you had walked into the Hive, as I did, on Tuesday afternoon, you would surely have smiled. The space had been transformed by an explosion of colour: red lanterns, marking the Lunar New Year, were intertwined with strings of playing cards for our Mad Hatter’s Tea Party; “drink me” signs and cupcakes sat amongst lai see packets; and an elegant chinese dragon presided over the scene. If you had peered alongside and behind these embellishments, you would have noticed artwork by local artist Ale Ezj, the latest in our Visiting Artists Programme, an initiative that allows us to connect with the creative culture of our city. The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party is an event that welcomes potential newcomers to our school. Tuesday’s event was a perfect introduction to what we are all about: it was a fusion of creativity and curiosity, inviting future Year 7s to share in the excitement of a school that looks outward, toward the world around us.
Those already familiar with our approach, will know that this sense of fusion is everywhere. Our annual dance show, Momentum, opened last night and, as ever, provided a stunning celebration of different cultures through dance. Alongside Artemis’s Persian classical dance and Aoife’s Irish dance, we had items with Jazz, Tap and Hip Hop influences – all genres with strong cultural roots – and, as Ms Szkolar reliably informed me before the show, “there’s a fair bit of style fusion in the programme, the result of dancers and artists being outward looking over the years”.
Our assemblies provide opportunities to explore both the world on our doorstep and worlds beyond school. This week, we had a special assembly to mark the start of the Lunar New Year. There was great excitement as Mrs Marchand and Ms Cheung launched a Chinese-themed whole-school quiz: we learnt about the Year of the Snake, what noodles symbolise in the Reunion Dinner, and why barber shops often close during this period. Gold coins were handed out, on the proviso that the wealth be passed on and shared. We are grateful to Anh, parent and PTFA rep, who gave her time on Wednesday to sell Vietnamese friendship bracelets to mark the Lunar New Year, and to our catering team who provided an Asian feast for lunch on Thursday.
The noise and exuberance that ensued during Monday’s quiz provided a stark contrast to last week’s assembly, where we sat in awe and in respectful silence, spellbound by the words of Holocaust survivor Ceska Abrahams. Ceska spoke about how she had endured over four years in hiding; how she bore the weight of sadness at the loss of family members; how she had fought for survival and clung to hope in the most desperate circumstances. The unspeakable horrors of the Nazi regime were shared obliquely (as Ceska commented to me afterwards, she had spared us the most harrowing details, given the age-range of her listeners).
As a young girl, denied basic human rights, removed from society, denied an education, hidden in darkness, Ceska described how she emerged from captivity to discover she had lost her voice. At the age of 95, her voice was powerful, strong and resolute; we were privileged to hear it. Mrs Dowglass, who has organised our Holocaust Memorial Day assemblies at Brighton Girls for many years, has gathered statements from students to demonstrate the impact of Ceska’s words. One Year 9 listener wrote that the talk has encouraged her to “celebrate” her faith and “celebrate Judaism and bring awareness so that history never repeats itself”. Another commented that she feels “inspired” to “speak out about what is wrong in the world and not just be a bystander”.
The theme of Holocaust Memorial Day 2025 was “For a Better Future”; Ceska Abrhams gifted us with a powerful reminder of why we must keep listening and why we must learn from voices beyond our own experience.