Simon Shaw on an inspiring message from local students

A group of schoolchildren holding up banners with a positive message for Refugee Week — Students at Stratford Manor School perform for Refugee week – (Credit – Stratford Manor School)

Newham Voices recently witnessed an inspiring and humane message from Year 6 pupils at Stratford Manor School — one that stood in sharp contrast to the divisive rhetoric of the Prime Minister’s recent ‘Island of Strangers’ speech.

As part of Refugee Week in June, which this year celebrated the theme ‘the community as a superpower’, Stratford Manor’s pupils took the idea a step further with a moving dance performance entitled ‘Lift the Ban: See Them, Hear Them, Enable Them’.

The “ban” in question is the UK government’s legal restriction preventing asylum seekers from working while their claims are being processed. As a result, thousands of people — including young, highly qualified individuals eager to contribute and pay taxes — are left languishing in temporary accommodation on little more than £8 a week while bureaucracy grinds slowly on.

The performance opened with a message of support from BBC Newsround, before the children took to the stage holding placards bearing words like ‘No Home’, ‘Banned’, ‘Gratitude’, and ‘No Money’. These simple, powerful phrases echoed the historic experiences of refugees who have sought safety in London’s East End for generations.

But it was the words of the ten and 11-year-olds themselves that struck the deepest chord — expressing a compassion, intelligence, and political awareness all too rare in the national conversation.

Here’s what some of them had to say:
“We support them because asylum seekers want to work as nurses, doctors, and builders — we are supporting the Lift the Ban campaign because they want to work.”
“They want to run away from war, persecution, and conflict, because they do not feel safe.”
“In some people’s eyes they are outsiders, but we support the Lift the Ban campaign so they will grow.”
“In our school, people come from many countries and we say to the government, loud and clear: refugees are welcome here.”

At a time when political debate on migration is often marked by hostility and exclusion, these pupils offered a hopeful, inclusive vision for the future — one where human dignity, community, and fairness take precedence.

Their voices remind us all that compassion isn’t a weakness — it’s a superpower.

No news is bad news

Independent news outlets like ours – reporting for the community without rich backers – are under threat of closure, turning British towns into news deserts.

The audiences they serve know less, understand less, and can do less.

If our coverage has helped you understand our community a little bit better, please consider supporting us with a monthly, yearly or one-off donation.

Choose the news. Don’t lose the news.

Monthly direct debit

Annual direct debit

£5 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else, £10 per month supporters get a digital copy of each month’s paper before anyone else and a print copy posted to them each month. £50 annual supporters get a digital copy of each month's paper before anyone else.