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School Resources – Learning about Migration

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School Resources – Learning about Migration

Topic: Migration, seeking refuge and asylum for EYFS, KS1 and KS2

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Important Dates 

  • 14-20 June, Refugee Week

  • 20th June, World Refugee Day

  • 22nd June, UK Windrush Day

Glossary

Migration: People moving to live somewhere new, often for work or new opportunities.

Immigration: People moving internationally, to live in a new country.

Immigrant: Someone who has moved somewhere permanently.

Migrant: Someone who has moved somewhere temporarily.

Asylum Seeker: Someone who has run away from their home country because it isn’t safe and has asked another country to look after them.

Refugee: Someone who has been forced to run away from their home because it is unsafe.

EYFS

Resources: 

A book that celebrates all the ways we are different and similar and how totally unique each of us is.

No single word describes us. Just because we have white skin, doesn’t mean we like carrots, just because we like playing on our scooters doesn’t mean we don’t like climbing trees.

Activity:

Have all students gathered on the floor.  Ask them to raise their hands, or move to different parts of the room, if they;

  • Like football, don’t like football, don’t care.
  • Like ice cream, don’t like ice cream, don’t care.

Notice how the groups have changed. Help students to recognise who liked the two things they did, who liked one thing they liked and who they haven’t found something in common with yet.

Ask them to find somebody who has a different favourite colour from them. When they find that person, ask them to find something they do have in common and tell the class what they’ve found out.

This game shows that initial differences often become less important as you try to make friends with people and find out who they are. We often have more in common than we expect or realise.

Further Reading and picture books on this subject: 

(all available in a bundle from our shop. Get in touch at [email protected] if you would like us to put together a suitable collection or please buy individual books from links below.)

The Journey by Francesca Sanna: A story that represents the thousands of decisions that people make to flee their homes and their countries and the dangers they encounter on those journeys.

All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold and Suzanne Kaufman: A story about school where everybody is welcome, showing lots of diversity and introducing children to the concept of being inclusive and welcoming.

Just LIke You by Jo Loring-Fisher: A beautiful story created to show children that their lives can be very different but there are always similarities.

KS1

Resources:

The Story of the Windrush by K.N. Chimbiri

This account of the HMS Windrush which brought Caribbean immigrants  to the UK after World War Two, describes clearly and concisely the struggles of those who arrived on that ship, and thousands of others like them,  who were invited to work in the UK by the government.

Watch this video on immigration and migration which explains the topic in a bit more detail.

Here I am is a lovely wordless picture book that describes beautifully what it’s like to be a young child who has moved to an unfamiliar city.

Activity:

Read the book and write a letter to family members you have left behind, as if you’re one of the people onboard the Windrush, heading off to a new exciting life.

Write another letter after you have been in the UK after three months, describing what life has been like for you since moving countries.

There are lots of reasons why people move from where they are born – sometimes it’s to have more opportunities, to make more money and sometimes it’s to run away to safety.

Activity:

If you had to leave your home quickly, make a list of what you would take with you. What would you have to think about? Who or what would you be sad to leave behind?

KS2

Resources:

Boy Everywhere by A.M. Dassu

(These lesson ideas contain some difficult images and reference racist materials. Please use with caution and sensitivity)

Boy Everywhere is an incredibly personal account of a young boy fleeing the Syrian war. It humanises the struggle that thousands of people face everyday when they decide to leave their homes to save the lives of their families.

There are brilliant teacher’s resources for this book here.

Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech stirred up anti immigration sentiment but it also ended his career. For some the debate continues today.

Class discussion:

Why are headlines like those below damaging?

Why do they think they are printed?

How do they balance those headlines?

Why is it important to get news from lots of different sources?

Does this reflect what the class has learned about Sami and his family?

Activity:

Rewrite the headlines: Using Sami’s story as inspiration, write a front page about his family and their journey from Syria. Encourage kids to think about migration differently.

For all pre packaged book packages for children aged 0-11, head to our website. If you would like us to put together a bespoke box of book for you and your school, please email [email protected].

If you have ideas and inspiration for how we can cater for what you need, do let us know.

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