Classroom Program

Every day we’re surrounded by people of diverse faiths, cultures and beliefs. And sadly we still see instances of discrimination, racism and hate speech throughout our communities. Our Upstander Programs equip teens to navigate our diverse society with insight for deeper understanding, acceptance and inclusion.

Led by experienced and trained facilitators, students in Years 6-12 are guided through an exploration of their own attitudes and actions. We provide them with tools to develop more empathetic responses, and the language to advocate Upstander behaviour.

Our Upstander Programs are offered to all NSW secondary schools via incursion directly to the school, at exhibitions delivered annually in different NSW regional areas, or remotely using interactive conferencing technology in the classroom.

The Schools Program runs for 2 hours. For schools where in-person program delivery is not practicable, we offer remote delivery of the program in 90 minutes.

Upstander Programs align with the NSW and Australian curricula learning areas of:

English (set reading on the Holocaust, refugees, outsiders and social ‘othering’)
Humanities
History (WWII, the Holocaust and other genocides)
Civics and Citizenship
PDHPE
Politics
Philosophy
Psychology (the bystander effect; herd behaviour)
Religious Studies and Comparative Religions

The programs enrich all Capabilities areas:

Ethical Understanding (Respectful Relationships)
Critical and Creative Thinking
Intercultural Understanding
Personal and Social Capabilities (Student Wellbeing and Student Voice)

Students will discover, explore and discuss

A brief documentary

This short film provides a historical background into the Holocaust, to demonstrate an extreme real-life example of the consequences of prejudice, racism and discrimination.

Understanding Upstanders

Exploring real-life cases from a historical lens, students are introduced to stories of rescue and survival from the Holocaust and the remarkable acts of courage that enabled them. This demonstrates how ordinary people are capable of extraordinary acts, and that everyone can be an Upstander.

A survivor’s testimony

A survivor speaker will detail their own experience of being rescued by people with the moral strength and courage to stand up in the most challenging of circumstances.

These personal stories highlight the importance of having the courage to care, as well as affording students the unique opportunity to speak directly with a Holocaust survivor.

A facilitated discussion

Students engage in a discussion of their own perceptions and experiences of bystander behaviour. They’re then taught how to make a difference in their own lives and communities through Upstander behaviour.

The Courage to Care incursion is a fantastic opportunity for students to combine their knowledge of The Holocaust depth study and The Changing Rights and Freedoms stage 5 core topic for History. The activities using primary sources, resistance stories and small-group work on what it means to be an Upstander are invaluable to support students’ conceptual understanding and understand their place as a global citizen.

The Holocaust survivor stories captivated our students and encouraged them to look for ways they can be an Upstander in their spheres of influence. The educators were passionate, knowledgeable and the organisation was extremely easy to engage with during the administration phase. I would definitely recommend this program for your school!

– Head Teacher HSIE, comprehensive high school in Southern Sydney

Holocaust Remembrance Ceremony

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Upstander Activity Pack

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Upstander Activity Pack SYP

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Upstander Toolkit

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TERMS AND CONDITIONS

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY.

Entrants must be permanent residents of Victoria with a valid residential address, email address, and phone number.

There is no cost to enter.

There are two categories of Entries:

Victorian School Students Competition – which is open to any currently enrolled student in a Victorian Primary or Secondary School (including VCAL or equivalent); and
Open Competition – which is open to all Victorian residents of any age.

Each Entrant may enter only one photograph.

By entering this Competition, you confirm that:

you are the creator and owner of the entered photograph;
you grant Courage to Care (Vic) (“C2C”) at no charge, a perpetual, non-exclusive licence to use, sell and reproduce your photograph in print and digital media, for use in and promotion:
- of C2C’s 30^th Birthday Exhibition; and
- by C2C for any purpose.
the exhibition and promotion of your photograph does not infringe copyright or moral rights; and
you have obtained all relevant permissions of persons shown in photograph.

Your entry for this Competition must include:
A digital image file in jpeg format with a file size of at least 4 MB and no greater than 10 MB
A title for your photograph; and
A written explanation in no more than 50 words that explains why your photograph is relevant to the theme of “Being an Upstander.” For Further information on this theme, refer to couragetocare.org.au
Digital manipulation and alternative post-capture image processing methods of photographs are permitted.

No entries will be accepted after 11:59 pm on 31 March 2022
C2C will acknowledge receipt of all entries. If you do not receive an acknowledgment within fourteen days, please contact C2C competition@couragetocare.org.au.
Entries will not be accepted or judged if:

under normally accepted standards, the photograph could be considered offensive in terms of pornographic content, character denigration, racial or religious prejudice. The Judge’s decision and discretion will be final; or

The Judges will decide and notify the finalists and also the Competition winners. The Judges’ decision is final and no correspondence concerning the Judges’ decision will be considered.

All finalist photographs will be exhibited at the C2C 30^th Birthday Exhibition and will remain for the duration of this period.
C2C reserves the right to curate the exhibition as it sees fit. C2C will determine whether the photograph will be displayed digitally or as a printed photograph. The costs of printing and display of the photographs will be paid by C2C.
The Competition winners will be announced during the C2C 30^th Anniversary Exhibition.
For the duration of the Exhibition, all Photographs must be available for sale. All proceeds of sales will go to C2C as a fundraising initiative to support their charitable purpose.

Photographs will be sold via a “silent auction”. All photographs will be delivered to the purchaser as a printed photograph at C2C’s expense.
The Prizes for the winning Entrants in the Competition are …TBD

C2C will not be responsible for any loss or damage of the submitted digital image files or printed photographs, however caused.
Please note that this Exhibition is separate from the annual Art Show run by B’nai B’rith Victoria.

Empowering our future generations to become Upstanders

Students will discover, explore and discuss

A brief documentary

Understanding Upstanders

A survivor’s testimony

A facilitated discussion

Some results of our Classroom Program

Upstander Activity Pack SYP