Episode 4:
The Celebration
The purpose of this episode is for learners to experience genuine representation and to authentically value and celebrate diversity.
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…experience a curriculum that meaningfully recognises and fairly represents the rich and diverse communities in Scotland and beyond (Principle 1)
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awareness of, and pride in, own individuality
positivity about the ways in which one is both similar to others and uniquely different
appreciation of diversity of cultures and societies within and beyond own experience
Stimulus
A thank you letter arrives from your character, saying they felt so welcomed when they met the children and are looking forward to starting in class. Your character is especially excited because the day they start school is also their birthday.
Note: this could also tie in with an upcoming event/festival if preferable. This episode may need to happen over a number of days to allow sufficient time for preparation.
Suggested activities
Read the thank you letter to the class. How do the children want to prepare for your character’s first day?
IMPORTANT: if it doesn’t arise in discussion, seed the idea of holding a birthday party for them.
Ask learners to draw or write about a special celebration they remember (does not need to be a birthday, but could be any event/festival/celebration) - maybe it’s a particular food, particular music, a particular game that’s played, or people who come to visit? How do they celebrate? Do we all celebrate in the same way? What are some of the similarities/differences?
Invite learners to work in pairs. Each learner should choose something that makes celebrations special for them and act it out to their partner-maybe a dance, opening a present, travelling to meet family. They could swap partners and present their actions to another learner, or the teacher could invite everyone to do their action to the whole class.
Create invitations for your Head Teacher which includes pictures or words that represent something from each person in the group’s special celebration.
Design a menu which should incorporate food/drink to represent something that each person in the groups would eat/drink at their special celebration.
Plan what will happen for a class party - what games will happen when etc
Choose/make decorations which incorporate a colour or object to represent something that each person in the groups would have at their special celebration.
Hold your birthday party for your character!
Note: You may wish to steer the children towards seeking your character’s preferences for a celebration, incorporating these suggestions into a celebration. This could be done through questions sent to your character through a letter or video call. You may also want to include discussion on cultural dress differences and encourage learners to dress for the event as if it were a family celebration. This could support an exploration of different cultural clothing. However, it may be important in your context to balance this with concerns about Cost of the School Day. Please adapt accordingly.
Use the activities on this BBC bitesize page to consider ways in which people are different from one another. This can provide the opportunity to explore new areas of diversity: ethnicity, language, religion and belief, and disabilities that are seen and unseen.
Invite learners to think about your school. What are the ways we help people to feel welcome in our school? Is there anything else we could do to make sure children can see themselves and others represented around the school?
Extension
watch this animation - how can we make sure children and young people feel both represented (through mirrors) and have the opportunity to learn about others (windows). You might wish to follow this up with some of the associated second level Challenging Bias activities, if you feel you would like to explore the theme of bias in greater depth.
