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Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS school resources

This school resource was designed for Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 students and was inspired by the stories in the Migration Museum’s exhibition Heart of the Nation: Migration and the Making of the NHS.

Since the NHS started 75 years ago, migration has always been central to our national health service. Without workers from all around the world, as doctors, nurses, porters and cleaners, the NHS would not be able to function. This school resource explores four illustrated stories of real NHS workers who migrated to Britain; how and why they came to Britain and the challenges and opportunities they faced when getting here.

This resource was designed and illustrated by Jess Nash: www.jessnash.co.uk

Family Tree Activity

Exploring our family history can help us uncover amazing things about our family and ancestors – and these stories often feature migration.

Here is a helpful guide to help you begin to explore your family tree and the stories hidden within. How much do you know about your parents, grandparents or relatives? Do you have someone in your family who migrated somewhere?

We have created some questions for you to ask your relatives. You will also find a family tree outline to print off and fill in! You can even pin stories, drawings and photos to illustrate it. Fill in the names and draw the connecting lines – or draw your own tree. We have also highlighted some great online resources to help you dig even further.

In these times of social isolation, it is more important than ever to reach out to those you can’t see via phone or video chat. And being at home for an extended period of time is a great opportunity to find out more about your family and relatives. Tell us who you got in touch with and what type of technology you used to do it.

Click here to download and view the resource

Where are you from?

It can be a struggle to answer the inevitable question: ‘Where are you from?’ when you’re not quite sure. A young woman of mixed heritage searches for an answer by looking back over three generations of her family. Documents, family stories and of course the British staple of tea and biscuits help her figure out a way to reply.

A personal look at questions of identity, at a time where migration, political isolation and reclaiming history are hot topics. Is it important to look to your own past in order to better respond to wider issues present today?

Mathematics by Hollie McNish

Hollie McNish performs her poem, Mathematics. A poem on immigration based on personal experience and studies. The poem owes a lot to a book by economist Philippe Legrain called Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them. We think this works really well as a starter or plenary.

Click here to watch on YouTube