Out of Africa – Drama

Here are some tips for where to find reliable sources of information to complete your learning challenges. 

Books
The best books that can help you with your Out of Africa topic have been placed in a special short term loan collection in the Reference section (by the photocopier).  These books are shelved in Dewey order (look for the number on the spine), and can be borrowed for one night only.  They can be used in the library at any time.

There are a number of fiction books that have refugees as main characters.  Don’t forget Refugee Boy too!

For your Drama tasks you will need to look for books on refugees and racism.  These will have a Dewey number of either 304 or 305.

Ask at the library desk to see the latest cuttings from newspapers concerning race and racism.

Websites
When looking at information on the internet about refugees and racism it is especially important to consider who is writing the website.  If the information is from a biased source, ie a racist group, or an extremist, you need to consider whether the information given is accurate and not misleading.

Here are some websites that have been carefully chosen to help you with your tasks. 

Racism
Racism in a nutshell – this webpage from Childline outlines what racism is, the different kinds of ways people can be racist and offers advice on dealing with racism.  This guide from CBBC news covers similar information too.

Recent news stories concerning racism – this link to Google news will find the latest news stories from the UK concerning racism.  You could also try this link to the Guardian newspaper too.

Refugees
Refugee stories – read lots of different stories from refugees.  Find out how it feels to have to move and start all over again, and about the prejudice refugees can face.

Refugee true stories – this webpage from the Red Cross highlights some more experiences of refugees.  If you are at home and can access You Tube there are some interesting videos also showing child refugees.

Refugee Week fact pack - this document from the organisers of Refugee Week includes a definition of what a refugee is, a list of famous refugees in the UK, facts and figures and a summary of the key issues faced by refugees.

Stephen Lawrence
Click here to find links to information about Stephen Lawrence.

World War 2

The library has lots of books on World War 2.  You need to look for books with a Dewey number of 940.5.  You can find the Dewey numbers on the spines of each book.  There are also signs at the top of the shelves to help you.

Here are some websites that should help you too, especially if you are looking for true accounts of what it was like during the war.

Children of World War 2 – although this website from the BBC looks like it’s for younger children, the information is very good and well worth a look.  You will find information on how things were at home, rationing and evacuees.

The Home Front - another site aimed at younger children, but full of useful information on women and children’s experiences of the war, rationing, music, propaganda and radio broadcasts.

Home Sweet Home Front – this website has lots of links on the left hand side to information on many aspects of the war including air-raid shelters, Christmas during the war, blackouts and land girls. 

World War Two: The Home Front - this short article from History on the net outlines evacuation, rationing, women and the Home Guard.

WW2 People’s War – another website from the BBC, which contains an archive of stories and images of real people’s memories of the war.  Use the links at the top of the page to search by categories.

Hillsborough disaster

Football fans crushed at Hillsborough from the BBC website explains what happened and includes a link to video footage.

Hillsborough: 10 years on – this special report from the BBC website has links to images and accounts of what happened as well as information about what changed following the disaster.

Hillsborough football disaster has been created by the families and survivors of the disaster.  It contains survivors and footballer’s accounts of what happened and a chronology of the main events and decisions.  You can also find out about this groups campaign for justice

Stephen Lawrence

In Drama Y7 will be looking at the murder of Stephen Lawrence.  Stephen Lawrence was murdered in London in 1993.  You will find some websites below that will give you some information about the case and its impact on the police force and racism.

Information about Stephen Lawrence and his family. 
You can find out more about Stephen in this webpage ‘Stephen’s stolen promise’ from the BBC website.  It tells you about his family and the kind of person Stephen was.  This webpage ‘Fighting for Stephen’ from the same website tells you about Stephen’s parents.

Information about the police inquiry into Stephen’s death
This timeline from the BBC website explains what happened following the death of Stephen Lawrence.

Stephen Lawrence case Q & A from the Guardian website explains why the Stephen Lawrence case was so controversial and some of the legal background to the case.

Information about racism
Racial violence: the ugly facts from the BBC website highlights some cases of racial abuse.

These results from a BBC poll on racism help you understand how people feel about race and racism in the UK.  You can click on the link ‘See here for full results’ to see the results of each individual question.

The Newsround guide ‘What is racism?’ explains different kinds of racism, laws that concern racism and suggests ways to help stop it.