Mrs Inkson (Head of Year 6)

In Inquiry lessons this half term, Year 6 are learning about human migration. Our central Idea is ‘Human migration is a response to challenges, risks and opportunities’.  To gain an insight into the experiences of refugees, the girls had to undertake a journey of their own. They were given five minutes at home to find and pack a bag ready to take on a journey.  At this point they did not know what was going on – What journey were they going on?  Where were they going?  What did they need to take?  We deliberately kept the instructions vague as we wanted girls to bring items they thought were important, without knowing what they were going to experience on the journey. 

After a few days quarantining the bags in school, we set off on our epic journeys. It was at this point we explained to the girls what was happening – they were refugees, fleeing from their country of origin, trying to get to a place of safety.  The long and arduous journey (round the Junior School Gardens), was met with many events and obstacles – such as spending the night outside without shelter, heavy rain, blisters on their feet, lack of food and water and finally, attempting to get a place on a boat that needed to be paid for.  At every obstacle we had to look through our precious bag of belongings and decide had we brought the right things to be able to solve this problem? 

As a result of taking part in this immersive activity, the girls obtained a much better understanding of what it must be like to undergo such a journey. They were able to empathise with the plight of the refugees and had the chance to see the issue from a different perspective.