Taking the lead

Peer education has been the heart of our educational approach for over 20 years. We have strong research evidence of its impact.

By empowering young people to educate their peers, we not only deepen their own learning but can bring anti-prejudice values to a whole school or community. 

Our core programme comes in two formats. You can choose which you prefer for your setting, or we can talk you through the options.

In A History for Today we bring our pop-up exhibition about Anne Frank into your school for a fortnight. The exhibition engages young people in the history the Holocaust through the story of Anne Frank and her family. The peer educators lead exhibition tours for parents and fellow pupils.

In Voices for Equality, the inspiration comes from Anne Frank’s Diary and how she wrote about her experiences during the Holocaust. The peer educators share their learning with others e.g. through presentations in assembly.

To reinforce the impact, we recommend booking some of our workshops alongside the peer education.

Once the peer educators have completed the programme, they can apply to become Anne Frank Ambassadors and take their learning further.

"I know my students better because of the Anne Frank Trust programme. I now know who they truly are and what they want to be."

- Miss Walker, year 5 teacher

Peer education programme - what you need to know

Who is the programme for?	What previous knowledge do the young people need?	What group size?	How long is the programme?
Young people aged 9 to 15 in schools, youth groups or other community settings. (England and Wales Years 5 to 10; Scotland P6 to S4.)	Young people don't need any previous knowledge.	History for Today: up to 20 young people. (We ask you to select a group with a range of needs and abilities, representative of your school community.) Voices for Equality: up to 30 young people.	Initial training of the peer educators: 2 whole days. Peer education - where the peer educators share their learning - depends on how many sessions or opportunities you can organise in your school. With A History for Today, we can leave our exhibition with you for up to 2 weeks. Follow-up learning session: half a day.
Where?	What does it cost?	Who leads the programme?	What will the peer educators learn?
In person in mainland Scotland and the following regions of England: London and the home counties, North East England, North West England, Yorkshire, and West Midlands. We can also deliver Voices for Equality by live video link anywhere in the UK.	State schools in England, Wales and most of Scotland: free of charge, but fees for late cancellations. State schools in Dundee and Glasgow: modest charges required by local authorities - please ask us. Independent schools: Please get in touch so we can put together a package for your school.	One of our Anne Frank Workers - passionate, expertly trained anti-prejudice educators, many of them qualified teachers and youth workers, many with lived experience of prejudice.	Thorough knowledge of Anne Frank, the Holocaust, antisemitism and prejudice in different forms today. Understanding of key ideas including discrimination, stereotypes and unconscious bias. Significantly more positive attitudes towards Jews and other groups of people in society today. Well-developed skills in critical thinking, discussion, presentation and public speaking. An enthusiastic and lasting commitment to equality, with the confidence to speak out and take effective action.

  

Through being a peer guide I have learnt so much about Anne's life and her story has made me think about how we treat other people. We all label people and make judgements about people but this experience has made me think about the effect that can have on others and what happens if prejudice does escalate and go unchecked. We all have a responsibility to think about the way in which we treat other people. - Peer guide

What will other young people learn from the peer educators? Knowledge of Anne Frank and the Holocaust. Awareness of antisemitism and different forms of prejudice today. Pro-equality values.

What's the subject matter? 

Both versions of the peer education programme cover the life and work of Anne Frank, the history of the Holocaust, and different forms of prejudice today, including antisemitism, disablism, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism, sexism, and prejudice against Gypsy Roma Traveller people and refugees. A History for Today is slanted a little more towards Holocaust history; Voices for Equality places more emphasis on Anne Frank as a role model of youth voice.

How the programmes work:

Peer Educator Training Day 1: A structured day of learning about Anne Frank, the Holocaust and prejudice today. Activities include whole-class learning, small group discussions, movement and role plays, plus worksheet activities such as quizzes, writing and drawing.

In A History for Today, the main learning resource is our exhibition, which tells Anne Frank's life-story in around 25 free-standing pop-up panels, each about the size of a room door. The panels need to be set up at the start of the day. The exhibition is ideal for an assembly hall, sports hall, wide corridor or lobby, or a library or large classroom.

Voices for Equality is suitable for any classroom. It uses video, audio and text extracts from Anne Frank's Diary, as well as other resources such as Nazi propaganda posters to show the dangers of antisemitism and stereotypes of all kinds.

Peer Educator Training Day 2: A skills-based training day focused on creativity, teamwork, presentation skills and public speaking.

In A History for Today, each young person develops a script and they learn to work together in leading tours of the exhibition.

In Voices for Equality, the young people create and practice delivering their peer education projects - e.g. scripts for speaking, artworks to showcase, Powerpoint presentations, or quizzes and other learning activities to run with groups of other young people.

Peer Education: With ideas and guidance from us, you organise a programme of opportunities for your peer educators to share their anti-prejudice learning with others in your school or community.

With A History for Today, this means arranging a timetable of exhibition tours led by the peer educators for other groups of students. You might also provide tours for parents or others in your community such as your local councillors, mayor or MP.

In Voices for Equality, the peer education might include presentations in assemblies or with other classes, or showcasing of artworks, or organising a special event with parents and other invited guests.

Follow-up learning review: Our Anne Frank Worker returns to see some of the peer education in action, to offer feedback and reflections on learning, to present a certificate to each peer educator, and to look at future options for speaking out against prejudice, including our youth empowerment programme.

How is the programme evaluated?

Each young person completes a quick evaluation form at the start and end of the project. The aggregated results are published in our annual impact report.

How do I book? 

Email us at [email protected]. Please include which programme or programmes you are interested in booking (i.e. History for Today, Voices for Equality or one of our standalone workshops) and we'll get back to you as soon as we can. 

As a peer guide being the same age as Anne whilst she was writing her diary, I felt a huge sense of pride and importance being able to share her story and her message.  The exhibition helped to show one very personal story and what happened to her as a result of prejudice and discrimination.  Having young people like myself share this important message with our peers is I feel a really important way of communicating a message of equality for all.

- Peer guide