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William will spread Jane’s story

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By Fiona Reid
Nostalgia
William will spread Jane’s story

A TEACHER has been appointed to encourage Scottish schools to teach the inspirational story of Jane Haining, right.

William McGair has been hired by the Jane Haining Project and they have also developed a range of educational resources about the courageous Church of Scotland school matron who died in the extermination camp in Nazi occupied Poland in July 1944.

Teachers at Dumfries Academy, Miss Haining’s old school, and Woodfarm High School in Thornliebank near Glasgow have agreed to run a pilot scheme between April and June this year.

A teacher of history and sociology by trade, Mr McGair was the faculty head of social subjects at Dumfries Academy until 2016 and first started teaching the Miss Haining’s story in the 1980s.

He is “excited” about his new role and said: “The story of Jane Haining is very moving and emotional and has always resonated strongly with pupils at Dumfries Academy given she was once a pupil there.

“It is one about faith and sacrifice, thinking of others and putting them first before themselves.

“She was an ordinary person who found herself in extraordinary circumstances and her story helps bring the Holocaust to life in a relatable and meaningful way as it puts a face and name to one of the millions of people murdered by the Nazis.”