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A cross-curricular project
Year Six 2012-13
The Other Side of Truth is a book by Beverley Naidoo. It describes the journey of two
children, Sade and Femi, as they are forced to leave their home country of Nigeria and travel
to England as refugees.
Over the past half term Year Six have worked incredibly hard learning about the characters and plot of the story and about the geography and history of Nigeria. Here is a collection of
our work: we hope you enjoy it.
Where is Nigeria?We looked in the atlases and used globes to find out where Nigeria is. We looked at
maps of different scales and maps which were produced for different purposes. Some of them showed us the landscape of Nigeria; some showed us the administrative
states and some the major cities.
From all the information we found out, we created a fact file,
all about Nigeria.
Did you know any of these facts already?
Olivia’s fact file
What is life in Lagos like?Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria, with approximately 16 million residents. We wanted to know more about what life in Lagos is like. We looked at a variety of
sources, and categorised the information into five categories:•Climate•Leisure•Employment•Transport•Housing
We made a wheel all about Lagos!
Click to move on to the next slide, to find out more about it.
Ceren’s industry wheel
What are Nigeria’s main industries?
Next we looked at the different types of industry in Nigeria.
We thought about the main industries in Nigeria and put them
into three categories.
What do we predict The Other Side of Truth will be about?
Before we started reading the book we took a closer look at
the front cover and the blurb. Using the clues, we made predictions
about the setting, plot and characters.
What is life like in Ibadan?We wanted to find out more about Ibadan, the city to the north of Abuja, where
Sade and Femi’s parents grew up. We looked at a range of primary and secondary sources to find out more information.
We pretended that we had visited Ibadan and wrote a postcard about our trip. We included details about the things we would have seen and done on our visit.
Nixon’s postcard
How has Beverley Naidoo effectively opened the story?
Sade is slipping her English book into her schoolbag when Mama screams. Two sharp cracks splinter the air. She hears her father’s fierce cry, rising, falling. ‘No! No!’ The revving of a car and skidding of tires smother his voice. Her bag topples from the bed, spilling books, pen and pencil onto the floor. She races to the verandah, pushing past Femi in the doorway. His body is wooden with fright. ‘Mama mi?’ she whispers. Papa is kneeling in the driveway, Mama partly curled up against him. One bare leg stretches out in front of her. His strong hands grip her, trying to halt the growing scarlet monster. But it has already spread down her bright white nurse’s uniform. It stains the earth around them. A few seconds, that is all. Later, it will always seem much longer.
The story begins with a dramatic opening scene. It is written in the present tense to show the urgency and pace of the situation. Below is
Beverly Naidoo’s original story opening. We read it many times and thought about the powerful metaphors she used, and the effect of these.
Sterlyn’s story
openingChaneise’s story opening
We had a go at writing our own story openings. We began by
setting the scene using the past tense. Then, as the dramatic
scene unfolded, we switched to the present tense to create a
powerful effect.
Olivia’s story opening
Cherry Class wrote diary entries based on Sade and Femi’s heart-
breaking experience.
Alice’s diary entry
Who was Ken Saro-Wiwa?The Other Side of Truth makes mention of some real-life personages including
the famous political activist and environmental campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was framed for murder by General Abacha’s government and hanged.
We pretended to be British journalists, outraged by his ‘show’ trial and his murder.
Alice’s newspaper article
Solomon’s newspaper article
Tabitha’s newspaper article
Tequane’s newspaper article
What were Sade and Femi’s first impressions of London?
Arriving in London, Sade and Femi were struck by the cold, unfriendly
atmosphere. We imagined what they might have been thinking while sitting
on the 38 bus, on their way to find their Uncle Dele.
Chaneise’s letter
Solomon’s letter
Kirsty’s letter
What are London’s different tube lines?
Sade and Femi caught the tube from Heathrow Airport to Victoria station. It inspired us to research some more
tube routes!
Daniela and Darren’s directions
What are the countries which make up Africa?
‘Then she tried to remember the names from
the map of Africa above Papa’s desk. Cameroon and Chad were next to
Nigeria, but what was to the east of Chad? Sudan,
Somalia?’
While Sade and Femi wait in the Immigration Office’s waiting room
Sade tries her best to remember the geography of her home continent. We created some maps of Africa using just a blank outline and an
atlas to help us! It was really tricky to draw all of the countries in the
correct ratio.
Neo’s map of Africa
Ceren O’s map of Africa
How is Sade bullied at school?When Sade begins to attend Avon school, she encounters two girls named Marcia and Donna. They tell Sade to steal a cigarette lighter from her friend’s family shop, issuing threats against Femi. We imagined that Sade had written a letter to an agony aunt. We tried our best to give her good advice in our replies.
Esra’s letter
Amanoor’s letter
Qadir’s letter
Erdem’s letter
Is Papa treated fairly in the UK?When Papa first arrives in the UK, he is sent to Heathlands Detention Centre, where he has to apply for political asylum.
Jaden LB’s letter
?’s letter
What can we learn from The Other side of Truth?
Beverley Naidoo dedicated The Other Side of Truth to Damilola Taylor, saying: “In memory of Damilola Taylor and to other young people and their families who seek new lives in new countries.”
Damilola Taylor was from Lagos. He came to London to seek a better life, but was brutally murdered in 2000. Similarly, Sade and Femi were searching for a better life in London – but did they find it? The difficulties which refugees face do not disappear once they leave their countries: the stories of Damilola Taylor and of Sade and Femi prove this. “In memory of Damilola Taylor and to
other young people and their families who seek new lives in new
countries.”
We read Benjamin Zephaniah’s Poem
We Refugees. It inspired us to write
some of our own poems using a similar
format.
We Refugees We Refugees
I come from a musical placeI come from a musical placeWhere they shoot me for my songWhere they shoot me for my songAnd my brother has been torturedAnd my brother has been torturedBy my brother in my land.By my brother in my land.
I come from a beautiful placeI come from a beautiful placeWhere they hate my shade of skinWhere they hate my shade of skinThey don't like the way I prayThey don't like the way I prayAnd they ban free poetry. And they ban free poetry.
I come from a beautiful placeI come from a beautiful placeWhere girls cannot go to schoolWhere girls cannot go to schoolThere you are told what to believeThere you are told what to believeAnd even young boys must grow beards.And even young boys must grow beards.
I come from a great old forestI think it is now a fieldAnd the people I once knew thereAre not there now.
We can all be refugeesNobody is safe,All it takes is a mad leaderOr no rain to bring forth food,We can all be refugeesWe can all be told to go,We can be hated by someoneFor being someone.
I come from a beautiful placeWhere the valley floods each yearAnd each year the hurricane tells usThat we must keep moving on.
We can all be refugeesSometimes it only takes a day,Sometimes it only takes a handshakeOr a paper that is signed.We all came from refugeesNobody simply just appeared,Nobody's here without a struggle,And why should we live in fearOf the weather or the troubles?We all came here from somewhere.
