Refugee Week is a UK-wide festival celebrating the contributions, creativity and resilience of refugees and people seeking sanctuary.

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Tom on “Why I featured refugee child characters in recent books…”

“Several of my latest published books have featured child refugees who have made it to the UK to be taken in by families and communities.

I did this because I have visited many schools and communities that have children who are refugees from Syria (and other troubled places in the world) and met them and heard their stories.

That – and reading books and articles about the war – motivated me to develop Yusra, Galip and Aylan as characters in my children’s books.

I did it, also, because I want children who are in all schools to be able to read about how we – in our relatively safe and stable country – can help people whose lives have been smashed to pieces and how we need to remember this country has a history of taking in and accepting refugees.”

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After the War (Barrington Stoke) Tom “This is the story of 300 children, Holocaust survivors who came to live in Cumbria in 1945, direct from the concentration camps of Europe. It is based on survivor testimonies”

Resist (Barrington Stoke) Tom “Audrey Hepburn lived on the outskirts of Arnhem in the Netherlands in a village called Velp. In autumn 1944, her village was overwhelmed by refugees, dragging all they could carry on bicycles and carts. They were dusty, desperate and terrified. But the people of Velp took them in. these were refugees from just four miles away, families whose houses had been destroyed in the crossfire of a terrible battle”

D-Day Dog (Barrington Stoke)  
Tom “I wanted to think about how today’s refugees are part of our history, part of our future and that is why it is so good to welcome them to the UK”

Gus the Fantastic Football Cat (Egmont, KS1)
Tom “This is about a Syrian girl and her dad who look after a rescue cat when they arrive in the UK from Syria. The parallel of the girl taken in by a UK community and her, in turn, taking a rescue cat in is the only thing about the story that relates to her background. The rest of the story is hopefully a lot lighter, as the cat reveals it can predict World Cup football results.”

Pitch Invasion (Barrington Stoke)
Tom “This is a bit more direct. The story is about a haunted hillfort in Cornwall and a ghostbusting duo – Seth and Nadiya – who realise there is a parallel between the ghost of Iron Age refugees escaping the brutal Romans by heading west and two Syrian boys – Galip and Aylan – who have recently been taken in by a Cornish family, after tragedy in Syria. The refugees I describe could well have been some of your Iron Age ancestors, people who might have been part of Boudica’s Iceni tribe after she was killed fighting them. I wanted to think about how there are refugees now just as there always have been. People have always had to flee. Then and now.”

Scroll down for previous Refugee Week’s resources including these FREE 5 part stories still available to read online …

Refugee Week 2023

“Boat People” with the National Literacy Trust includes :

• 5 very short stories about people who have had to escape danger by boat, set in the years 1914, 1943, 1975, 2010 and today

Still available in print to read aloud from here

Or to watch being read aloud by me from here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmmlG7jutI-1sTB2jvWewnZQBc-eQlddq

• an introductory assembly (15 minutes long) from me https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzUXr-o3g9M
• 5 writing exercises delivered by video, relating to the stories and the theme of refugees, with worksheets for the children here
• a teachers’ guide here
• Combined powerpoint very kindly shared by Penketh High  of all the writing exercises for lesson time here.  

Certificate for your school or classroom or for individual work
Download here

Refugee Week 2022

Watch Now “NLT Refugee Week virtual event: In Conversation with Tom Palmer”  recorded from 20 June 2022 here

Certificate to share with your pupils here.

“The Girl in the Lewandowski Top” – is a FREE 5 part story about a Ukrainian Refugee in 2022 with teacher guide and worksheets. This was written for Refugee Week 2022 for the National Literacy Trust but can be used all year round.

• • • Read “The Girl in the Lewandowski Top” here
    • Teacher Guide here
    • Worksheets here

“Them” – is a FREE 5 part read aloud story set in 1945, from the point of view of the children in the Lake District community who received 300 child refugees from the Nazi concentration camps after the end of the Second World War.  This was written for Holocaust Memorial Day 2022 for the National Literacy Trust but can be used all year round.

• • • Read “Them” here
    • A powerpoint introducing “Them” here
    • 5 short films and worksheets to support “Them” story and inspire pupils to write their own responses here
    • A teacher guide with ideas and sources to support your delivery of “Them” and children’s writing here
    • 5 short films of Tom reading out loud “Them” available from here
      

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“The Question” is a FREE 5 part read aloud story set today, from the point of view of pupils meeting a Holocaust survivor at their school and asking them about their refugee experience.  This was written for Holocaust Memorial Day 2021 for the National Literacy Trust but can be used all year round.

• • •  Read “The Question” here for you to read aloud / stream / share or as a series of 5 films of Tom reading the story for you to use however suits your school here ).

You can also find out more about the Windermere children’s story in my children’s book “After the War from Auschwitz to Ambleside” here.