Y8 Citizenship Day - March 2014

Citizenship Day happens every year, once a year for each year group. Today it was the Year 8’s turn, and they focused on war children. This is a very important topic, and the students had to handle it with care and respect.

The day kicked off with an assembly led by Ms Lonsdale. She explained that it is a delicate subject, and it must be taken seriously. Next, the pupils watched a short  video on children of war and the horrors of living in a war torn country.

The Workshops - Once the assembly was finished, the students went to join their fellow housemates in one of several workshops.  There were nine different workshops in all, and each group engaged in four of these spread out through the course of the day. 

African Drumming - Calthorpe Park was lucky enough to be visited by Oumar Sagna, a professional drummer, who worked with the children to produce a group piece of music.

First aid - Representatives of the Red Cross came and showed the Year 8s what to do in crisis situations. They were taught how to stop  a bleeding wound and protect it from infection. Students also learnt the recovery position and CPR.

Drama - In Drama, pupils created depictions of child soldiers in Sudan.

Food issues - Participants made cheesy flat bread to show what kind of diets children of war must contend with.

News on the Ground - The Year 8s recorded reports with presenters from Eagle Radio.

Refugees - Mr Groszewski showed the students how to sculpt miniature refugees.  The intention was to build a larger scene using all the models together, alongside the shelters built by students from the Technology group.

Crunch the numbers - Mr Gueye showed participants in the Maths groups a presentation on what effect war can have on children, their feelings and what child soldiers were forced to do.

Shelter - Mr Hainsworth taught the pupils how to make shelters, and after his demonstration, they all went off and built their own model shelters. These shelters later housed the miniature sculptures made in art and would help to finish the scene.

Landmines - In Landmines students learnt about the affects of landmines and cluster bombs on children. They created a news report on the terror of bombs and now have a far greater knowledge of landmines.

Conclusion - So overall, the Year 8s had a very meaningful day and hopefully now have a greater awareness of war children.