Secondary Years Program (SYP)

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 8-12 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 FREE to all Victorian secondary schools via incursion directly to the school, at exhibitions delivered annually in three different Victorian regional areas, or remotely using interactive conferencing technology in the classroom.

The Secondary Years Program runs for 1 hour and 50 mins. For schools where in-person program delivery is not practicable, we offer remote delivery of SYP in two sequential sessions of 55 mins each (total of 1 hour and 50 mins).

Upstander Programs align with the Victorian 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
Politics
Philosophy
Psychology (the bystander effect; herd behaviour)
Religious Studies and Comparative Religions

The programs enrich all Capabilities areas:

Ethical Capabilities (Respectful Relationships)
Critical and Creative Thinking Capabilities
Intercultural Capabilities
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 and other genocides to demonstrate an extreme real-life example of the consequences of racism and discrimination.

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.

An exploration of Upstanders

We explore real-life cases from both a historical lens – rescuers from the Holocaust and other genocides – and present-day lens – local heroes from their own communities. This demonstrates how ordinary people can become extraordinary Upstanders.

A facilitated discussion

Students engage in a discussion of their own perceptions and circumstances. They’re then taught how to make a difference in their own community through Upstander behaviour.

“It engaged the student with real details, then took it further to make it matter. Excellent presenters, great materials, effective program. “

Teacher, Xavier High School

“It really impacted me, got me thinking about how easy it is for bad things to happen when you don’t do anything.”

Year 10 Student, Geelong College

“Relevant to so much in adolescents’ lives – bullying, acceptance, bigotry, etc. A wonderful program. Please come to our region again soon.”

Teacher, Victory Lutheran College

“It’s eye-opening and teaches us much more than history and the Holocaust. It inspires you to be an individual and stand up for your beliefs. It made me realise that I can make a difference.”

Year 11 Student, Loyola College

“Real life education activity which helps engage students in understanding the Holocaust and the “Upstanding” message. A great experience, especially for our rural students who cannot travel to Melbourne.”

Teacher, Horsham Secondary College

“It’s eye-opening and teaches us much more than history and the Holocaust. It inspires you to be an individual and stand up for your beliefs. It made me realise that I can make a difference.”

Year 11 Student, Sale

“This two-hour workshop taught more to the students than we could get through in weeks at school!”

Teacher, Echuca College

“It sparked the realisation that we do have the responsibility to stand up and voice our concerns, to make a difference when we believe something unjust is occurring. Thank you for telling these important and inspirational stories. It was eye-opening for everybody.”

Year 12 Student, Rochester Secondary College

Our educational resources are available for download at no cost, but we ask you please to provide us with the information we need for our internal evaluation processes.

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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.

Secondary Years Program (SYP)

Empowering our future generations to become Upstanders

Students will discover, explore and discuss

A brief documentary

A survivor’s testimony

An exploration of Upstanders

A facilitated discussion

Some results of our Upstander Programs

Upstander Activity Pack SYP