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What began for us as a simple extracurricular activity soon evolved into a remarkable journey, spanning history, art and horticulture – all the way to Westminster, and one of the UK’s most celebrated gardening events. In 2022, our history department joined a national initiative called ‘The Holocaust, Their Family, Me and Us’, inspired by a BBC documentary hosted by Robert Rinder. At the time, we couldn’t have imagined the incredible doors this project would open for our students, the skills they’d uncover, or the path that would eventually lead them from a school club to a national platform. Thus began the ‘History Research Group’ – an extracurricular club that initially met during lunchtimes and once a week after school. The group’s passion quickly grew, giving way to further meetings on Saturday mornings and during school holidays. This dedication laid the foundation for what was to become an extraordinary student-led initiative. By November 2023, driven by the emotional depth of the project, the students decided to create a legacy by transforming a forgotten corner of the school grounds into a memorial garden. The group’s artist designed a commemorative mosaic, drawing inspiration from the school’s values, contemporary global issues and the Holocaust project itself. In January 2024, the students began clearing the area and set themselves an ambitious goal of completing the memorial garden by 21st June that year, to coincide with Refugee Week. Mosaic sessions with a local artist took place on Saturdays throughout April and May, steadily bringing the vision to life. Thanks to a determined push during the May half-term holiday, the garden was completed on time and officially opened on 21st June, as planned. The unveiling was a deeply moving occasion, attended by relatives featured in the original BBC programme, representatives from refugee support organisations and local community leaders. The project even caught the attention of local media, and was featured on regional radio. The resulting recognition prompted the students to produce a short film about their garden for the international My Hometown initiative organised by UCL’s Centre for Holocaust Education, eventually leading to an invitation to Westminster. The students – who were now deeply engaged in gardening and historical commemoration, and confident in their skills – looked ahead to upcoming 80th anniversaries marking the end of WWII and the liberation of Auschwitz, and chose to enter the prestigious BBC Gardeners’ World Live Beautiful Borders competition. They submitted a design in January 2025 (pictured above) that incorporated key themes from their school memorial garden, the commemorative mosaic and visual acknowledgement of the significant anniversaries taking place that year. Their garden concept focused on the building of intergenerational and interfaith connections, while encouraging a closer bond with nature. The symmetrical layout, defined by pebble pathways, symbolised reflection and unity. At the heart of the garden design lay a tranquil reflection pool. Each plant was chosen for its symbolic meaning, together conveying a message of peace, healing and remembrance. A silver birch tree – which are known for their resilience and ability to regrow in the wake of devastation – invites visitors to hang the names of their lost loved ones, making the garden a living memorial. The students’ hope was for this multi-sensory space to not only honour the past, but also inspire hope for the future. And as a school, we were incredibly proud when their garden design was ultimately selected to appear at the BBC Gardeners’ World Live event that took place in June this year at the NEC Birmingham. WHATWE MADE DEBORAH HAYDEN IS A HEAD OF HISTORY A MEMORIAL GARDEN Needto know National Curriculumdemandsmay be stymieing science teachers’ ability to deliver practical lessons. That’s the conclusion of a briefing issued by EngineeringUK,which gathered survey responses from 800 STEMteachers across the UK, who indicated that themain constraints on delivering successful practical lessons came from curriculumdemands (cited as the biggest barrier by 44%), time constraints (cited by 37%) and student behaviour (cited by 33%). 27%meanwhile pointed to their school lacking the financial resources needed to purchase appropriate science equipment. According to the ‘School report: Barriers to practical science,’ briefing, 2016 saw44%of GCSE students performing hands-on practical work in lessons at least once per fortnight. By 2019, this proportion had declined to 37%, and fell to just 26% in 2023.The briefing’s authors acknowledge that COVID restrictions were a contributing factor, but also note that shifts towards teacher-led demonstrations and video learning were alreadywell underway prior to the pandemic. The briefing’s recommendations include addressing the issue of ‘content overload’ as part of the government’s ongoing curriculum and assessment review; making practical science a curriculum requirement; and ensuring schools receive the resources needed to provide students with regular practical learning opportunities within the sciences. 39% of students internationally are unclear as to their career expectations – double the proportion from just under a decade ago Source: OECDstudyof 690,000 teens across 81 countries 78 teachwire.net/secondary