Turning community into a superpower this Refugee Week

Moomin characters sitting together as a community this Refugee Week.

By Grace Watt

For the past five years we have seen an incredible turnout for A Day of Welcome by schools. Last year over 550 schools engaged with the day to kick start Refugee Week and help build a culture of welcome so that learners could understand more about the lives of those seeking sanctuary.

This year is also particularly special, as Refugee Week (16-22 June) is delighted to have partnered with The Moomins. Their story mirrors the realities of people seeking sanctuary and continues to pave the way for engagement with topics on courage, solidarity, and the feelings of belonging. In celebration of their 80th anniversary, a number of resources and activities have been created to help celebrate this week. From engaging in simple acts of kindness to reflecting on the original book “The Moomins and the Great Flood”, there is something for every learner.

Coinciding beautifully with the Moomins story is the theme for this year, Community as a Superpower. For us, it represents the idea that simple acts of generosity and kindness can multiply to become an unstoppable force. This year A Day of Welcome falls on Friday 13 of June. To make it even easier for schools, our friends at The City of Sanctuary and partners have put together a collection of bilingual resources and activities to inspire and help your school to get involved.

We understand that no two schools are the same! That’s why we love that being part of A Day of Welcome can be tailored to meet your specific schools needs so that all pupils and schools can get the most out of the day.

There are so many ways to get involved this year in all capacities. We have broken them down into 4 easy stages.

Moomin characters reading together.1. Simple activities

  • Join free online author and artist events for KS1-4
  • Explore a lesson or assembly plan to help develop a culture of welcome in your school.

2. Activities that require a bit more effort

  • A whole day of learning, access a bank of lessons plans to help learners engage in refugee migration at a greater depth.
  • Highlight local events to pupils, staff and the wider community to encourage understanding of the contribution refugees make to UK culture.
  • Have a non-uniform day and dress up in green or yellow to support schools of sanctuary or another local organisation supporting people who seek sanctuary.
  • Attend our free CPD session with the International Rescue Committee to better support your own refugee pupils and families.

3. Activities to really go for it!

  • Explore local refugee and migration stories to really bring the topic to life. Use the toolkit to help develop your own citizen research projects.
  • Moomins dancing together.Use the resources to inspire learners to respond creatively through music, art, and poetry and showcase their work to the local community.

4. Activities to start something bigger

The resources from both the City of Sanctuary and the Moomin’s collaboration offer so many ways to get involved this year, so if this sounds like something your school might be interested in, register here to find out more.