Rose Bay Secondary College students to visit Sydney Jewish Museum after anti-Semitism rise

An eastern suburbs high school will make a visit to a Holocaust museum mandatory following calls for greater action from schools facing accusations of anti-Semitic behaviour.

An eastern suburbs high school will make a visit to a Holocaust museum mandatory for older students in response to a wave of shocking allegations of anti-Semitism in students in recent weeks.

The NSW Department of Education has confirmed students from Years 10 to 12 at Rose Bay Secondary College will visit the Sydney Jewish Museum as part of the History curriculum from 2023, to “allow for supported and contextual discussions with students”.

The response follows a rise of anti-Semitism in Sydney schools.

An online chatroom used by Knox Grammar students on messaging app Discord included anti-Semitic comments, including “Hitler is always stay in my heart”.

Rose Bay Secondary College told parents in an email sent this week it was collaborating with the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies to improve its handling of incidents of anti-Semitism.

Rose Bay Secondary College students will visit the Sydney Jewish Museum as part of the History curriculum from 2023. Picture: James Gourley.

“We reject all forms of racism. Rose Bay Secondary College has taken immediate steps to address racist or anti-Semitic behaviour and to provide counselling for students impacted by this behaviour through its anti-racism contact officer and wellbeing team,” an Education Department spokeswoman said.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark said in a newsletter sent on Wednesday it would be working more closely with schools, the state government and the NSW Education Department as a result of the rise in anti-Semitic sentiment.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies CEO Darren Bark. Photo: supplied.

Allegra Spender has spoken out at the anti-Semitism. Picture: Damian Shaw.

An online portal launched by the Board was “inundated” with reports of anti-Semitic bullying across NSW schools.

As a result, Mr Bark told the Wentworth Courier a number of eastern suburbs schools had signed on to participate in its Respect, Understanding and Acceptance program, which mandated students attend the Sydney Jewish Museum and “introduce[d] new programs for students and teachers which will address anti-Semitism and other forms of hate”.

Elite boys private school Cranbrook also recently announced a raft of new initiatives, including the creation of an improved and centralised incident behaviour register and strengthening of its alliances with organisations including the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies.

Wentworth federal MP Allegra Spender recently took to social media to condemn the rise in anti-Semitism and said she would focus on issues of bullying and inclusion at a planned student summit in November.

Ms Spender told the Wentworth Courier she had received overwhelming community feedback expressing “deep concern and distress” over the recent reports.

“It is particularly upsetting that so many of these incidents seem to involve schoolchildren,” Ms Spender said.

“The challenges of intolerance and prejudice are not specific to the electorate of Wentworth, but they are issues that affect us profoundly.

“We are a diverse community with a large and proud Jewish population. These kinds of incidents are not just upsetting but diametrically opposed with who we are as a community.”

The Board’s upcoming assembly, or monthly meeting, will directly address the rise in anti-Semitic bullying in schools on September 20.