The exercise sprung up on children at St Hilary’s Primary in East Kilbride without warning last Thursday morning. This left the 11- year-old children distraught and in tears.
According to an angry parent, deputy head teacher Elizabeth McGlynn told pupils that they had received an official letter stating that nine children had to be split up from classmates. It was up to 15 minutes before the stunned children were finally informed it was only a pretend game.
In a letter to the South Lanarkshire Council education department, the mother said, ‘when one child asked if that meant they might have to go to an orphanage, they were told that might be a possibility’.
‘At that point many of the children became very distressed, one boy kicked his chair over, one was angry and demanded to speak to somebody in charge, but most were crying on a scale ranging from mildly to severely.’
After the mother contacted the school she found out that the pupils were infact not informed beforehand so they could experience an ‘accurate emotional response’ to help them with story writing. She then added ‘ my daughter should not have to feel the terror, fear, panic, segregation and horror that the holocaust experience…’
A spokeswoman said, ‘These role play situations are designed to help children understand diversity and develop empathy for the victims of prejudice and are usually very well received by pupils.’
The spokeswomen then added, ‘We are sorry that the lesson had this effect on some pupils.’
In a letter to the South Lanarkshire Council education department, the mother said, ‘when one child asked if that meant they might have to go to an orphanage, they were told that might be a possibility’.
‘At that point many of the children became very distressed, one boy kicked his chair over, one was angry and demanded to speak to somebody in charge, but most were crying on a scale ranging from mildly to severely.’
After the mother contacted the school she found out that the pupils were infact not informed beforehand so they could experience an ‘accurate emotional response’ to help them with story writing. She then added ‘ my daughter should not have to feel the terror, fear, panic, segregation and horror that the holocaust experience…’
A spokeswoman said, ‘These role play situations are designed to help children understand diversity and develop empathy for the victims of prejudice and are usually very well received by pupils.’
The spokeswomen then added, ‘We are sorry that the lesson had this effect on some pupils.’
Written by Kirsty
No comments:
Post a Comment