July 26, 2010

About our school

Walkington Primary School is located in Walkington village – a short distance away from the market town of Beverley. There are approximately 250 pupils in our school and most of the pupils are from a white, British ethnic background. The majority of our pupils live in the village itself although some children do come to Walkington from the surrounding area.

Why we joined

We were excited to join the Afghan Action project as it provided a unique experience for the children to access the global community around them. It was also a chance for us to explore the ‘real’ Afghanistan rather than the image portrayed from the current war and media coverage. We felt that many of our pupils already knew a little about Afghanistan but their knowledge really didn’t go beyond the images of soldiers and war. So having the opportunity to have an afghan visitor come to school to talk about afghan culture and traditions was a great way to balance the children’s perceived thoughts about the country.

The impact on the pupils

We decided to start the project in the middle age range of the school with our 3 mixed Year 3/ 4 classes. The children thoroughly enjoyed our Afghan project work and their opinions changed dramatically throughout the course of our studies. We began the project by writing our thoughts about children in Afghanistan and what they might see on their walk to school. Many pupils wrote about bombs, soldiers and broken houses. In fact many pupils were surprised that children actually had a normal daily routine and even went to school. Then, after studying the country and culture in greater depth, and after meeting a positive representative, Zia (from Afghanistan), the children changed their opinions completely. They painted beautiful watercolours of the afghan landscape and quoted ‘I’d love to go there one day!’ These paintings were then displayed at Bainton Art Gallery and were sold to raise £90 for Afghan Action. The pupil’s money went towards buying a goat which they were thrilled about! They enjoyed dressing up in traditional costume and loved the carpet designing and weaving. Zia even taught the pupils how to write their name in Farsi which some pupils continued to do on their own work throughout the week! We then revisited the children’s thoughts about Afghanistan and what they thought afghan school pupils would see on the way to school. This time more positive ideas flowed, such as trees, birds, goats, traditional clothes and chatting in Farsi with friends. We feel that our Year 3/ 4 pupils now have a much more balanced opinion of Afghanistan and a positive attitude towards the country and people from there. We look forward to continuing the project and learning more with other year groups in our school.

Click here for Walkington School

Afghan Landscapes Power point presentation

Millennium Development word doc