Pupils' display exploring sanctuary goes on show at St Mary's

A display exploring the theme of sanctuary by pupils from Llangors Church in Wales Primary School is on show at St Mary's Church in Brecon.

The school is applying to become a School of Sanctuary and, last term, pupils from Years 5 and 6 pupils explored the global reasons behind why people need to flee their homelands, including issues around climate change and wars, using examples from biblical times to the present day.

A School of Sanctuary means that the school is a place of welcome to all, that it educates young people about why people are forcibly displaced, recognises that the UK is enriched by new arrivals and, above all, supports pupils from all backgrounds to feel seen, supported and included.

"You can see the children’s pride when they discuss the importance of our school becoming a School of Sanctuary and their understanding of current affairs and the context in which seeking sanctuary is needed," deputy head Mark Williams said.

"In the autumn term we spent time on World War II and experiences of evacuation, and now the freedom of the new Welsh curriculum means that we can cover a much broader range of subjects and link the experiences of evacuation to the present day..

‘The topic of sanctuary has allowed us to show links between the story of Moses leading the Hebrews from Egypt , the Christmas story and current events in Syria and beyond. Our pupils have been encouraged to write empathetic essays and persuasive speeches, to interview a range of people about their experience of seeking refuge or supporting people across the world, to write poetry and to paint . We are so pleased to be able to share some of this exciting work and hope that a bigger display will be available in Brecon Cathedral in July."

Ailsa Dunn, trustee of Hay Brecon and Talgarth Sanctuary for Refugees (HBTSR), which helped with the project, said: "It has been a great privilege to have been asked to help find a few speakers and resources for the pupils and to assist in bringing their work to a wider audience. The writing especially shows great maturity and insight and some of the paintings of people seeking sanctuary are haunting.

"We hope that the school will be recognised as a School of Sanctuary this year . We are delighted that there are several other local schools who are also making great strides towards this award and we’ll look forward to celebrating with them all. At a time when the media is full of stories about illegal migration and the use of Rwanda as a place to determine asylum claims for people who have sought asylum in the UK, it has been so refreshing to hear the positivity of the pupils about welcome and compassion."

You can find out more about HBTSR here.