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Day Two: Poverty and education

> Morning session
> Afternoon session

Afternoon session

There is a choice of activities for this afternoon. Either:

Look at Send My Friend case studies or

Make narrative scrolls.

Activity
> Look at Send My Friend case studies

Key focus: Continue to consider the effects of poverty on education.

Background information for teachers
Send My Friend to School is an initiative of the Global Campaign for Education, run by a group of charities and organisations concerned with education. The aim of the Campaign, held earlier this year, was to get world leaders and governments to fulfil the promises they made in 2000 (as part of the Millennium Development Goals) to provide free primary education for all pupils.

In July, on International White Band Day 1, Tony Blair met a delegation of London school pupils to accept messages made by children from 110 countries around the world. These messages were cut-out child-shaped figures, dubbed 'buddies', to represent the 100 million children in Africa and around the world who are too poor to go to school.

In the biggest engagement of children across the globe, children in 110 countries and over 6000 schools in the UK made the 3.5 million 'buddies' as part of The Global Campaign for Education's Send My Friend to School Challenge, part of the Make Poverty History Campaign. Each buddy was hand made by a child to ask world leaders to use the opportunity of the G8 summit held in early July in Edinburgh fulfil their promises and deliver policies that guarantee every child the basic human right of an education by 2015.

Although the Send My Friend campaign is no longer asking for buddies, the website still has some very interesting case studies about children who are not able to attend school. It also displays the on-line buddies submitted by thousands of school children earlier this year. For more information, visit www.sendmyfriend.org.

Activity: Look at Send My Friend case studies

You will need:
> Access to computers with an internet link
>Case studies ( use the interactive stories about Abudulai and Doris from the Send My Friend website)

Explain to pupils that 100 million children in the world do not have the chance to go to school. Divide pupils into groups and ask them to discuss the case studies of the two children, Abudulai and Doris, who are unable to attend school. Put together a list of what they think the key issues were. Discuss together as a class. For further information on making use of case studies see the Cool Planet website.

Activity
> Make narrative scrolls

Key focus: Children around the world share similar ways in which they make fun and entertainment, regardless of how much money they have (part 2).

Background information for teachers
The tsunami struck a number of different Asian countries. In some of these countries, such as India, many traditional storytellers and singers use painted scrolls to help them narrate their stories or songs. Children enjoy listening to these stories and songs and looking at the scrolls. The scrolls illustrate the key elements of the tales. Pupils can use newspaper and paint in a simple way to make their own painted scrolls to illustrate some of the events of the tsunami. They can use the case studies as a guide.

If there is time, pupils could also illustrate a traditional story from one of the countries affected by the tsunami too:

• Sri Lankan myths and mysteries list (external site)
• Indian legends list (external site)
• Thailand fairy tale: Manora, the Bird Woman (external site)
• Indian fairy tale: The Prince and the Painted Fairy (external site)

Activity: Making narrative scrolls

You will need:
> Newspaper
> Sugar paper – preferably one colour
> Paint
> PVA glue
> Sticky tape
> Scissors

Cut the newspaper into rectangles or squares. Paint the key events from the chosen case study onto the newspaper panels. Make a paper scroll long enough for all the newspaper panels by cutting and gluing or taping the sugar paper into a long strip. Glue the newspaper panels onto the scroll. These can be arranged either horizontally or vertically, as desired. Retell the events from the case study or story to the class, using the scroll as a visual aid.

Adapted from Child Art with everyday materials, Craft without limits series, Tarit Bhattacharjee, Tara publishing

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