Year 6 wrote a biography about Anne Frank – outlining the treatment of Jews at the time of the Nazi involvement. The ill treatment was described beautifully by the children, as well as the strength and courage shown by Anne and her family. We explored Anne’s early life in Holland, followed by the terrible treatment of Jews in German camps.
Our Year 6 pupils studied World War II and explored the causes of the war, historical events and the geography of war. The year 6 children looked at how and why Poland was an easy country to invade, focusing specifically on factors surrounding The Baltic Sea, flat land, Poland’s neighbouring countries and the Polish military. The children also created a timeline of the most important events of Word War II. They will discuss the treatment of different groups of people.
Windrush Generation
In Guided Reading Year 4 read all about the Windrush Generation in the book ‘A World Full of Journeys and Migrations’ by Martin Howard and illustrated by Christopher Corr. We explored lots of facts and information about The Windrush Generation including when it was, where they boarded and sailed, the difficulties they faced when they arrived and the hard work these people helped put in to help the UK.
The pupils shared lots of ideas about their own thoughts on this situation. Many pupils were able to describe the sadness they felt for the people who had been treated in this way and that they wanted to help people who are in the UK to feel welcome. Some pupils were outraged by the treatment and wanted the government to make changes to support people who migrate to the UK.
Migration
In English, Year 4 read ‘The Matchbox Diary’ by Paul Fleishman. This is a historical fiction book which tells the story of a little girl’s great-grandfather’s matchbox diary and includes the theme of migration. It explores the story of migration from Italy to America, at the time of famine, due to droughts. We were able to consider the journey that people took and the desperation they must have felt, due to wider world issues.The narrative itself deals with the treatment the family received, when they arrived in America. Pupils were able to discuss their upset about this and it prompted a discussion about how people should all be treated equally, no matter who they are.
We then went onto research about migration to gather information to complete a non-chronological report. Our reports entailed a range of information about migration including why people migrate, who the first people to migrate were, who migrates and much more.
Year 5 have taken part in a project over 4 morning sessions called “Show Racism the Red Card”. After they completed the project, they were able to celebrate their efforts and hard work. Year 5 went to the Baltic in Gateshead for the Show Racism the Red Card Migration Project celebration event. We had an amazing day celebrating our work on the project and were even treated to some VIP guests, Kim McGuinness (Police and Crime Commissioner), Lee Clarke (former NUFC player), Steve Howey (former NUFC player), as well as visits from some of the people from migrant case stories we have been learning about in our sessions.
Our behaviour on the trip was excellent and our teachers are very proud!
In Year 6 the children read Benjamin Zephaniah’s Windrush about Leonard’s experience of moving to England from Jamaica, including his treatment later in life. It explores the ‘Windrush Generation’. Pupils wrote letters from Leonard to his dad, asking about what his life was like in Manchester, compared to life in back in Maroon Town. Next, they completed a diary entry from Leonard’s perspective about his experiences on board the Arosa Star as they sailed to Southampton.
In addition, the children learned and performed a poem by John Agard called ‘Windrush Child.’
The final piece in this unit of work was a persuasive letter written to the local council, urging them to erect a statue to commemorate the Windrush Generation and their contribution to British Life. We learned that many people had fought for the Mother Country and went on to be an integral part of the newly-formed NHS.
In Year 6 the children continue the theme of Migration by studying the picture book ‘The Arrival’ by Shaun Tan. In this book, the family are torn apart when the father travels to a strange new land to seek employment. Pupils wrote a diary entry from the point of view of the daughter as she watches her father get ready to leave his home.
