Human Rights Conference 2026
Last week, our House Council Human Rights Committee spent the day at Denbigh School’s Human Rights Conference for 2026. This growing and important event was led by Paul Salver BEM, as master of ceremonies, who brings a wealth of knowledge and deep reflection about the Holocaust to schools around the country. Our Year 8, 9 and 10 students started their day by being given the name of one person from history who has lived through genocide; by the end of the day they found out whether their individual survived. Many did not. You can see the names yourself on the small tags held by our students.
Throughout the day, we were reminded of why these stories matter and how widespread these atrocities have been. We heard from Edina Crnkic, from Remembering Srebrenica, who spoke of the great loss of her family in the 1995 massacre during the Bosnian War, touching us all with her words. Viktoriya Shtanko, from the Ukraine Appeal, reminded us of the risk to children and identity, speaking on behalf of Ukrainian parents whose children are still missing. We also heard from Mr Anouar Kassim MBE, CEO of MK Islamic Arts & Culture, who spoke to the power of art and creativity in overcoming and understanding “dehumanisation, discrimination and displacement” and reminded all the students in the room that “you will be the pioneers of human rights”, which are sometimes taken for granted. Our Mayor, Cllr Paul Trendall also shared his appreciation to all who attended, after reflecting on what he’s learned over many years in the Armed Forces. Students were also addressed by John Moffat, live from the MK Rose (via live stream), and reminded that we have, in the heart of Milton Keynes, our own place to reflect on these huge challenges around the world.
We are incredibly proud of our students who attended and demonstrated Watling values throughout the day by showing the utmost respect and reverence for the people who took the time to speak to us about their experiences. Noah even brought a gift, of yellow and blue origami flowers to gift to the Ukraine Appeal (which were incredibly gratefully received by Viktoriya). We were also honoured to add to the dove of peace, which will go towards MK’s bid for City of Culture 2029. We look forward to being invited back in 2027 to continue the committee’s work of sharing these important stories with the rest of the Watling community.
Mrs Griffiths
