Students go into primary schools to inspire children's lessons

Students from De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) have been helping children’s classes in first aid, health, art and computer games at schools this week.

Education is a huge focus of the DMU Square Mile programme, which works with schools across the city. This week, DMU student Tabassuma Akramul led a class entirely in Italian to help pupils understand what life may be like for child refugees.



The session was held as part of the national Refugee Week. DMU Square Mile also supports other refugee projects including the After18 charity, which helps unaccompanied young people, and working with the Race Equality Centre.

During the lesson, Tabassuma taught the children the name of each body organ in Italian. Afterwards, the children explained how the experience had shown them what life was like for child refugees.  

Comments included: “I felt scared because I didn’t even know one word”, “If this was every day, I would feel left out” “I would feel quite sad because it would be hard to make friends.”

Glebelands Primary has been named the first School of Sanctuary by refugee organisation City of Sanctuary. Teacher Ruth Sinhal created the Leicester Schools Welcome Refugees project, and aims to get all schools across the city and county to help ensure refugees feel welcome and supported.

Ruth said: “Today was great! The kids loved it and it was just what I’d hoped it would be. We are very grateful to Tabassuma for her time and brilliant session.”

“Her session gave the kids a small sense of how a refugee might feel when arriving in a school where they can not understand the language being used by everyone else.

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“We have been busy all this week, as it is Refugee Week, with lots of activities to raise awareness of why refugees need our support and care. We started with an assembly where we were presented with our School of Sanctuary Certificate.

“All classes have been involved in activities ranging from stories, drama, letter writing, finding out about Syria before the war eg cooking/ culture/ music and looking at its cities before and after the war.”

In other projects, volunteers were also at New College Leicester to teach students about dementia; running first aid classes for youngsters at Mellor Primary and Mowmacre Hill, delivering creative workshops for youngsters at Kestrels Field Primary and teaching pupils at Manor High in Oadby about Game Art.