OTLEY students have met a Japanese concentration camp survivor at a Forgiveness exhibition.

Year 10 pupils from Prince Henry's Grammar School visited the event, at All Saints Parish Church, as part of their PHSE (Personal, Social and Health Education) Day curriculum.

The F Word - Images of Forgiveness display was organised by The Forgiveness Project and used real stories of victims and offenders.

The project's work is supported by Hanneke Coates, who grew up in Java (modern Indonesia) and spent three and a half years of her childhood in a Japanese concentration camp.

The Prince Henry's group heard a talk from Hanneke before visiting the exhibition with her to find out more.

One student said: "When we had finished listening to Hanneke we just wanted to give her a hug.

"I’m not sure I could ever be as forgiving as she was – she is amazing."

The school's PHSE Day Co-ordinator, Georgina Anson, added: "When we heard about the exhibition at the church it was something we really wanted our students to be part of.

"Teaching our students about being global citizens and helping them to understand issues which affect people across the world is very important to us at Prince Henry’s, so this moving experience was a perfect fit."

The church also hosted an evening talk by Hanneke and showed The Railway Man movie, based on a true account of a soldier's experiences in a Japanese prisoner of war camp.