Mrs Pullinger (English Teacher)

During this term, 8GJP have been gripped by Benjamin Zephaniah's emotive novel Refugee Boy in English. Having developed deep attachments to the main character, Alem, an innocent refugee, the class were asked to stage the protest that takes place in the novel, which fights for his right to be granted asylum in the UK. This task was designed with the intention of using imagination to develop some of our core values at BGS: demonstrating empathy and concern for society.

The class were divided up into three groups. Group one were responsible for putting together the merchandise for the campaign, which included producing informative leaflets about the experiences of refugees, to be handed out on the march. Group two became the media crew covering the event. The group scripted and performed a broadcast from a news studio, as well as carrying out interviews live at the scene. Finally, group three wrote and performed the emotive and persuasive speeches that were to be delivered to the public as part of the campaign.

The students worked collaboratively to perform and edit their pieces into an impressive video production. Students enjoyed watching this video back and reflecting on the strengths and weaknesses in their own participation and overall performance. Having now finished the unit, some of the students are craving more of Zephaniah’s writing and have added a few of his novels to their Christmas lists!