Asia Education Foundation

Activity 7: The new student

Level

Middle and Upper Primary

Lesson overview

This lesson requires students to tackle the need to tolerate and accept difference, and to create
a sense of belonging for all members of the school community.

Main learning outcomes

English
Society and Environment

Materials required

Copies of questionnaire
The Really Big Beliefs Project book

Procedure

  1. Inform students that a new student will be starting at the school this week. Ringla is a follower of the little-known religion, The Circle. As a Circlist, she wears a wire circle above her head which is never to be removed, reveres a circular book, attends a circular church and follows the rules of The Circle elders. The full moon is a very important time for her and she will need to eat a circular biscuit every hour of each day after the full moon. She will be one of only three Circlists at the school.
  2. Ask students the following questions:

    3. • How can we make this new student feel part of our school?

    • Why should we make this new student feel part of our school?

  3. Ask students to work in group to complete the Inclusivity questionnaire to see just how welcome Ringla would be. Ensure students understand the meaning of ‘Inclusivity’.
  4. Groups report back to the class. Compare responses and use them as the basis for discussion about how the school could be more welcoming for a Circlist and the importance of accepting religious differences.
  5. Ask students how Tom and Emma, the main characters in The Really Big Beliefs Project , would feel about meeting a Circlist. What are Tom and Emma’s attitudes to people from different religions? How have they developed these attitudes?
  6. Students can use the lesson as the basis for an imaginative piece of writing about Ringla’s first day at school or about Tom and Emma interviewing Ringla.
  7. To extend this activity, students could consider why the author has created Tom and Emma’s open-minded attitudes and examine their function as narrators.

Inclusivity questionnaire

Rules

  • Do our school rules and policies ensure that students of all religions are happy here?

  • Would and should the school make exceptions to the rules for a Circlist?

  • Do we have class rules that create a positive and safe learning environment for all students?

Physical environment

  • Is there any graffiti about Circlists around our school?

  • Would a Circlist be able to play in all areas of the playground?

  • Would anyone bully a Circlist?

Images and displays

  • Are there Circlists represented in the displays in the library and corridors?

  • Are Circlists only shown in relation to religion, or are they shown doing a range of other things, like playing sport or doing debating?

  • Are there pictures of Circlists in the illustrations in our textbooks for all subjects?

Classroom

  • Could a Circlist sit next to anyone in our classroom?

  • Could a Circlist work in a group with anyone in our classroom?

  • Would our teacher expect more, less or the same of a Circlist?

Rewards

  • Would a Circlist ever be elected Class Captain?

  • Would a Circlist ever be elected Sports Captain?

  • Would a Circlist ever be elected School Captain?

  • Are there any other ways a Circlist would, or would not be made welcome at our school?

  • What else can we do to create an inclusive school community?