The Real Truth Legacy Project starts national rollout of Hillsborough education materials
The rollout of the Hillsborough assembly as part of the Real Truth Legacy project follows successful pilots in schools across Liverpool, particularly an assembly held in April 2023 at St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary School in Ian Byrne MP’s West Derby constituency.
This week The Real Truth Legacy Project, led by Liverpool West Derby Ian Byrne MP, began rolling out educational materials about Hillsborough to teachers in schools across the country. Working with AQA, an education charity and the largest provider of general qualifications in England, materials were sent to History and Citizenship teachers to highlight the power of teaching young people about this vitally important subject.
The materials have been produced in conjunction with Hillsborough survivors, family members, educators and subject matter experts including Professor Phil Scraton, and have already been rolled out to all local authority schools in the Liverpool City Region. They have also been endorsed by a committee featuring the FA, Premier League and other high profile footballing organisations.
Ian Byrne MP, a Hillsborough survivor, launched the Real Truth Legacy Project in 2021 to educate schoolchildren and older generations about what happened at Hillsborough, as well as the cover-up and long fight for justice that followed. He is also Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Public Accountability and the Parliamentary lead on the Hillsborough Law Now Campaign.
Survivors and families of the 97 fans who lost their lives as a result of the national disaster that occurred at Hillsborough on April 15th in 1989 have been involved in a three-decade campaign in pursuit of justice.
The Real Truth Legacy Project was started in September 2021 to ensure that the real truth of Hillsborough is known among all age groups and the smears about the disaster propagated by the media and state agencies are eradicated and it seeks to educate people about what really happened at Hillsborough and the cover-up and campaign for justice that followed, all of which are key aspects of the legacy of Hillsborough for many families and survivors.
AQA is an independent education charity with over 120 years of expertise and knowledge. AQA designs, creates, and delivers rigorous and fair assessments to more than one million students every year, including GCSEs and A levels, making it the most chosen general qualifications awarding body in England.
AQA reviewed the materials produced by The Real Truth Legacy Project and agreed they could benefit teachers, heads of department and senior leaders across the country in grounding key concepts in history and citizenship to a vitally important, real life event.
Reza Schwitzer, Head of External Affairs at AQA, says: “As an education charity as well as an exam board, everything we do is about improving the life chances of young people. We are always willing to work with politicians across the political spectrum to improve the materials teachers have access to and ensure education is relevant to the issues our young people and their families care about deeply.”
Ian Byrne MP says: “I am delighted that The Real Truth Legacy Project has been able to work with AQA to take this important next step in spreading the word to teachers and young people across our nation. Education about the Hillsborough disaster and the subsequent Establishment cover-up remains a vital part of the continued fightback against decades of lies and injustice and the demonisation of Liverpool fans by the media.
“Despite Hillsborough occurring 34 years ago, we see time and again in the present day how a lack of knowledge about the true facts of Hillsborough continues to cause untold hurt and pain to victims’ family members and survivors.
The Real Truth Legacy Project is committed to continuing to right these wrongs through an ongoing education programme. It is vitally important that the lessons of Hillsborough are learned across the whole country and never repeated.”
The Real Truth Legacy Project is also working with Government to secure a national rollout of education about Hillsborough, with Ian Byrne MP leading on this work in Parliament.
In January 2022, Liverpool city councillors passed a motion in support of The Real Truth Legacy Project with full cross-party support and was subsequently approved by every council within Liverpool City Region, meaning the project is supported politically across Liverpool City Region.
In July this year the Real Truth Legacy Project education toolkit on Hillsborough was rolled out to all local authority schools in the Liverpool City Region. The rollout of the Hillsborough assembly as part of the Real Truth Legacy project follows several successful pilots in schools across Liverpool, particularly an assembly held in April 2023 at St Teresa of Lisieux Catholic Primary School in Ian Byrne MP’s West Derby constituency.
In April, Hillsborough families and survivors marked the 34th anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster, which resulted in the greatest loss of life at a sporting event in British history. The death of Andrew Devine in 2021 means that 97 people have officially died as a result of the events of April 15th 1989, with a further 766 injured.
Notes to editors:
The Real Truth Project Education Pack for teachers and schools is available online to support staff in delivering an assembly to pupils.
The pack contains:
1. An introduction to the project
2. A PDF assembly
3. Notes for teachers
4. Context and timeline
5. Sources and further information
The Real Truth Legacy Project recommendation is that this pack is suitable for pupils from Year 5 upwards and it has been trialled with this age group in several primary schools.
Please note that colleagues from the LFC Foundation have stated they are willing to help schools with teaching on this subject and can be contacted by schools via email at Nicholas.Ryan@Liverpoolfc.com or LFCFoundation@liverpoolfc.com or by phone on 0151 432 5675.