Ideas and alternatives

A) Create a garden

If the school has some outdoor space with access to soil, one action can be to create a garden. Students plant a seed or sapling, care for it and watch it grow. The idea is that the students are involved in a common action concerning their school. When the refugee students leave, they will leave something behind that represents life and is cared for by the rest of the school community.

Steps

• Create an action coordination group. Get permission from the Teachers’ Council and the principal.
• The teacher(s) in charge decide which students will participate, how they will prepare, what steps they will take, and how the whole plan will be implemented.
• Teachers inform the students about the activity and the steps of its implementation.
• Teachers provide the seeds or saplings and plant them with the students. They oversee when the garden will be watered and who will take care of it on a daily basis.
• Every month the groups monitor the growth of the plants/trees.
• (optional step): Create a blog: Each student posts the progress of his or her plant or tree. If one of the students (refugee or otherwise) leaves the school and moves to another place, they nominate a classmate to be the caretaker of their plant/tree. The caretaker provides updates via a blog or social media.

B) Create an art exhibition with works by students

Steps

• Create an action coordination group. Get permission from the Teachers’ Council and the principal.
• The teacher(s) in charge decide which students will participate, how they will prepare, what steps they will take, and how the whole plan will be implemented.
• Teachers inform the students about the action and the steps of its implementation.
• Students create their projects. These may involve drawing, painting, sculpture, video, photography, etc.
• The themes can be related to human rights, inclusion, relationships, friendship, dreams, travel, etc. Each participating student gives a title to the project.
• The venue for the exhibition is decided. The works are placed, and an event is organized where the students guide the public (other students, parents, etc.) through the exhibition and, if they wish, comment on their works for the visitors. The exhibition can be live or digital.

C) Create an inclusion corner, tree or wall of inclusion

Steps

• Create an action coordination group. Get permission from the Teachers’ Council and the principal.
• The teacher(s) in charge decide which students will participate, how they will prepare, what steps they will take, and how the whole plan will be implemented.
• Teachers inform the students about the activity and the steps of its implementation.
  • The inclusion corner: A corner of the school is chosen, and students and teachers decide how to decorate this corner. It can be decorated with phrases and words in the languages of all the pupils, with artwork related to inclusion; a library with books from all the students’ countries of origin, etc.
  • The inclusion tree: With teacher guidance, the students write (in any language they want) thoughts, phrases, wishes related to human rights, the world they dream of, children’s rights, etc. on cardboard, or other constructions that can be hung up. A real tree is chosen, or a tree is created in art. Students hang their writings on the tree (as fruits). A presentation activity of the tree is organized, or each student can freely read the fruits of the tree.
  • The inclusion wall: A wall in the school is chosen. The teachers and the students decide how to decorate the wall. If they choose visual creations: Students create their artwork. The themes can be related to human rights, inclusion, relationships, friendship, dreams, travel, etc. The works are displayed and new works are gradually added. If they choose graffiti: appropriate permissions are obtained, the group of students and teachers in charge choose the theme and style, and contact is made with graffiti artists or a teacher or school members who know how to create graffiti.
• A presentation event is organized to disseminate and communicate the actions to the school and wider community.