THE teacher who pioneered an internationally recognised Holocaust education programme at Royal Wootton Bassett Academy has been awarded an MBE.

Nicola Wetherall started teaching at RWBA 11 years ago after completing a PhD exploring the Holocaust and Jewish identity.

Her decision to move from formal academia into a school setting was motivated by a desire to have a greater reach and to be able to positively influence young people and the programme she has led stands as a testament to her achievement of that aim.

In 2009, she secured the support of the school’s senior management to launch what was to become the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights Programme.

It is a pioneering cross curriculum approach that goes beyond a simple history lesson, encouraging students to explore the complex issues around tolerance and prejudice and to understand how, if unchallenged, they can lead to violence and ultimately, to genocide.

Reacting to her award, Nicola said: “To be recognised in this way was a massive surprise. When we started the programme in 2009, I could never have expected just how far it would go - the range of staff that have got involved, that have gone out of their comfort zone across all departments and believed in this.”

As part of the wider programme, the school hosts visits by survivors of the Holocaust and other genocides, events that have had a particularly powerful impact on the students.

India Grant, 17, said: “I really can’t convey the impact that is has on you when you meet a survivor.

“Seeing the same footage in documentaries again and again is one thing, but when you sit with someone, hear those little details, notice their idiosyncrasies as they tell their stories, it makes it real.”

Fellow student Annie Sheldon, also 17, has been inspired to pursue a career in human rights law as a result of the insight she has been given at RWBA.

“I can say 100 percent that it has made a difference to who I am as a person,” she said.

“I don’t think I would have the aspirations I do now if it wasn’t for this programme. For you to be inspired to make a change you need to have a personal connection to it, my experiences here have given me that opportunity.”

For Nicola, it is these personal responses, far more than classroom data or results, that motivate her.

“Any teacher wants to feel they have had an impact,” she said. “It is fantastic to see the young people that have been touched by the programme, that have been inspired by it, are shaping their university choices or their futures because of something they have picked up from it.”

George Croxford, head at RWBA, said: “This is a richly deserved award for a teacher who does more for Holocaust and genocide education than anyone I have ever known.

“Nicola is one of the very special things about RWBA. She plays a crucial role in ensuring our personal development programme has a huge influence on all of our students. She is an exceptional teacher, educator and person.

“I cannot imagine anyone more deserving of being on the New Year’s honours list.

"The whole of Royal Wootton Bassett Academy and the whole of the Holocaust education movement will be so proud of her achievement.”