Welcoming The Stranger is a pilot project working with all the pupils of Seascale Primary School (age 3 – 11 year olds).

One of the impacts of Covid is that children’s ability to negotiate and empathise has been severely challenged. Isolation hasn’t just affected learning but leads to emotional issues and struggles with peer relationships.

The project introduced a puppet, a life size bear, who was lost, frightened, and needed help.

The children worked with Bear to create his story and by doing so, empathised with Bear’s situation, his sense of loss and need to belong and to be made welcome.

The initial phase of the project worked from June to July 2022, to create Bear’s story. The story is currently being turned into a book, that will be published, and a copy will be given to every child in the school.

The project will continue in September 2022, where the story will be turned into a performance by the children.

The Welcoming the Stranger process is collective and collaborative with children negotiating with their ideas. The Bear puppet has been successfully used in schools exploring friendship, loss. Being a Bear, there’s no assumptions. If we present a human puppet, there are inevitably assumptions made about gender, race, and age. Bear is neutral, the children are free to explore their concerns, fears, and sense of loss. The puppet creates a safe place to explore without judgements being made.