Piccadilly Lights light up for HMD 2023.
Mr Bulger’s Interview on Radio Merseyside about Fay Healey, Local Resident and Holocaust Survivor.
Holocaust Memorial Day Assembly 2023
St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Primary School has established strong community links, such
as The School Strand Partnership, which involves multiple schools in South Sefton,
Merseyside. This partnership enables schools to collaborate and share best practices.
Our School Council actively participates in this network and identified road safety as
a priority due to the high traffic volumes during drop-off and pick-up times, resulting in near-
misses and accidents. To address this, we created a Road Safety Assembly for Key Stage
1 students that featured Mummy and Baby Bear. The assembly was delivered by Key Stage
2 School Council members and was a great success. We even shared it with another school
in the network, Lander Road Primary School, which faced similar traffic issues.
Our collaboration with John Toker at Sefton Council was particularly successful, as
he provided resources and advice, including a banner and the parent parking pledge idea.
This pledge encourages parents to park sensibly and prioritise walking to school whenever
possible. We also convinced the council to refresh the zigzag lines outside our school.
Although traffic outside the school remains a challenge, our collaborative efforts with Sefton
Council, parents, and the community have significantly improved the situation.
After the success of our road safety project, the School Council decided to address
the issue of dog fouling, instead of online safety, which the partnership had proposed.
Students created posters to raise awareness of the issues caused by dog fouling,
including the mess it creates and potential health risks. They also wrote a letter to parents,
politely reminding them to clean up after their pets and warning them that dog fouling is an
environmental crime. With the help of Sefton Council, a dog waste bin was installed outside
the school gates, which significantly reduced the amount of dog poop accumulating in the
area.
Although the issue has not been entirely resolved, these measures have effectively
reduced dog fouling outside the school gates. We partnered with Everton in the Community
and this project morphed into a social action project to continue to clean the local area of
litter.
The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust organised a competition for young people in the
UK to learn about individuals affected by the Holocaust, genocide, or identity-based
persecution. Participants were asked to create a portrait that highlighted the extraordinary
qualities of ordinary people. Fay Healey dedicated a significant part of her life to St.
Elizabeth’s Catholic Primary School, where she watched generations of students grow up.
Fay’s affection for the children was evident in her attention to their safety when crossing the
street as a lollipop lady. Despite being well-known to many, few knew that Fay fled Poland at
the age of 11 during World War II when her Jewish family thought it best for her to be away
from Nazi Germany’s invasion.
Cerys, a Year 6 student, submitted an entry titled “Then and Then” that portrayed
Fay’s extraordinary experiences. Fay was one of thirty winners selected by the judging panel
at the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust. Her work was displayed on Piccadilly Lights for Light
the Darkness national moment, in Piccadilly Circus on 27th January 2023. Survivors of the
Holocaust and genocides were joined by their families and members of the public to watch
from the ground, including Cerys and her family.
We held an assembly to commemorate Fay and Holocaust Memorial Day, which was
attended by a representative from the Association of Jewish Refugees, the Mayor of Sefton,
and Fay’s family. The assembly was covered by various news outlets, including BBC North-
West Tonight, BBC Radio Merseyside, Liverpool Echo, and The Jewish Telegraph.
As a result of the media coverage, we received a colourful bench with a plaque
dedicated to Fay Healey. Initially, residents attempted to have a street renamed after Fay or
a blue plaque installed on her former home, but these plans were deemed unfeasible.
Instead, they decided to have a bench with a plaque inscribed with the words: “In fond
memory of our friend Fay Healey who safely escorted us to school – We honour your
memory and promise to fight discrimination in all its ugly forms.”
We are excited about the ripple effect from the media coverage and plan to unveil the
bench and Fay’s portrait in our reception area in September 2023, accompanied by
members of the community and Sefton Council.