Category: Ethical, informed citizens

This morning we thought about the Holocaust; what happened, when and to whom. We studied some of the laws imposed upon Jewish people at that time. Pupils noticed that as time went on the laws became more extreme.
Some of the laws that made them feel sad was that ‘Jewish people were not allowed to marry non-Jewish people’ and ‘Jewish children were not allowed to go to school with non-Jewish children’.
One of the laws that made them feel scared was that ‘Jewish people must be home from 8pm in the winter and 9pm in the summer’.

This afternoon Larry, Nicola and Rev Ken (who are members of this group) visited us to talk to us about what they do. They explained that there are about 40 members who support refugees, possibly host refugees, support hosts and fundraise to facilitate this; they raise about £5000 a year.
Our pupils asked some really insightful questions and were really intrigued by what our visitors had to say. They were particularly taken by the flashbacks that refugees experience when completing very simple activities (such as going swimming) and the idea that refugees think it’s unsafe to drink water from a tap without treating or boiling it first.

Last month we worked with Roger to discuss Space Junk; the class had previously voted on which topic they wanted to cover. These results will be sent to the Government’s UK Space Agency. Our pupils were really thoughtful and polite when discussing the topic.

Today our panel received a letter of application from the Refugee Support Group requesting accommodation in our centre for Dinah and her son, Eshan. The decision panel met in the board room to consider various points, and emails were composed to deliver the decision.
Beth oedd y penderfyniad? What was the decision?

The pupils agreed they would like to help refugees to feel welcome, loved and supported and that something as simple as a smile would help to do that.

’If I could do anything to help I would …’

Suggestions included: making donations of food, toys, money and shelter, offering a place to stay, providing support to locate missing friends and family, work to promote peace and end war.