Information for teachers

ABOUT THIS SCHEME OF WORK

Our scheme of work for this cross-curricular project based on The Other Side of Truth has many aims. Explaining them here should make reading the scheme, and the teaching and learning which will follow, a little easier.

Originally we were going to use The Other Side of Truth as a class novel for Year 5 and 6 literacy lessons. To support this, in geography we were going to write a six-week unit about Nigeria. Both of these activities were intended to ensure that children’s understanding and experience of refugee issues were more in depth (and in context) than in a series of stand alone activities put together for Refugee Week.

However, on reading the book, we saw the potential to take the sequence of teaching a step further; to make real links between subjects, inspired by the narrative. It made sense to us to plan and teach the geography lesson on Lagos before the children had started reading the text (which starts in Lagos). Equally, when Sade refers to the family home near Ibadan, it makes sense to follow this up in geography with a lesson on Ibadan. Other links quickly sprung to mind…

When the Nigerian currency (the Naira) is first mentioned, it seemed like this would be a good opportunity to explore this in a maths lesson on converting currencies. This in turn would be well-supported by and ICT lesson using spreadsheets to help convert currencies. In fact, it seemed there were endless opportunities for very focused work in maths and ICT, especially by the time the children in the story reach Lagos airport.

And when Femi and Sade are abandoned at London’s Victoria Station they desperately try and work out how to get to the London College of Art (where they hope to find their Uncle Dele, who works there). Couldn’t our children do this? (It is actually, I think, Camberwell College of Art.) Couldn’t they actually make the journey, like the fictional characters did? Wouldn’t their recount writing afterwards be particularly purposeful? And won’t their reading of the text be more heightened and focused?

The teaching sequence that follows aims to involve all children in a rich series of lessons. Lessons where real contexts support teaching, with activities that will motivate children- and develop a wide range of skills.

And, perhaps, most importantly of all- lessons which will see all children empathising with the heroes of the story, Sade and Femi, children who are forced to leave their country, and all they love, in order to survive.