On Wednesday, Year 5 and 6 had the opportunity to watch and engage in an extremism and hate crime workshop. The workshop included a small company putting on a theatre production: this was set in WW2 and was based on 3 children who lived in London. They formed a group called the British Secret Spy Society; they wanted to become detectives and find German spies in their local area. After lots of conversations to their community members and observations of their neighbours, the children (aged 10 - 14) believed that they had found a German spy in the form of a young boy. Together, they created a letter which explained what they thought they had learnt. Unfortunately, because of what they wrote, another member of the community put a petrol bomb through this family's door and the whole house burnt down. Luckily, the family got out alive! What the children hadn't realised was that the young boy was in fact a German; however, he was a German Jew who was a refugee and had managed to flea from Berlin. The family had lost their home and all their belongings; the child who set the petrol bomb off was arrested.
The show put into perspective how discriminatory words and actions can have severe consequences on those involved and affected. Finally, the afternoon ended with how discrimination can take place online. This was a perfect link to our online safety workshops on Monday and online safety day yesterday.
A fantastic afternoon that captivated both children and staff!
