Displaced Persons theme day on Holy Island

31st January 2020
We had an excellent day on Holy Island Friday.  The children were starting to think about the plight of displaced persons:  people who have to leave their homes, sometimes at very short notice, because of natural disasters such as flooding or drought or because of war and conflict.  As well as finding out about the difficulties displaced persons face, we also thought about what they might find helpful when they travelling to a safer place.  
 
We played the migration game first in the school building.  Then we thought about what we would pack in a rucksack if we had to leave in a hurry.  In the afternoon we used Christian Aid's 'Emergency Exit' scenario but adapted for our children and travelling around Holy Island itself.  The children each had a list of things (on a laminated sheet) which they had 'packed'.  As they walked round the island in small 'family groups', different scenarios happened.  For example, the oldest group member lost everything off the boat and needed help from the other family members, the youngest couldn't carry more than 5 things and had to share out what they had and so on.  The children had very thoughtful responses to the exercise and ended the day listening to 'The Journey' by Francesca Sanna.