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In September 2008, Harrogate Grammar held its inaugural 'Who Do We Think We Are? Day. This was a joint undertaking by the humanities, science and physical education faculties during which year 7 students spent the day off timetable taking part in a series of activities based on the theme of identity.

The day was the culmination of an introductory series of lessons in all three faculties based on the theme of 'Identity'. The enquiry question for each department was identical - 'Who do you think you are?'. Each department then focused on an aspect of identity as it related specifically to their subject:

• History - The impact of immigration on cultural diversity in modern Britain
• Geography - National identity and Britain's place in the modern world
• Religious Studies - The diversity of religions in Britain
• Science- Individual identity and genetics
• Physical Education - Testing the body's capabilities

The aim of the day was to get students thinking about their identity, as a year 7 student at Harrogate Grammar School, as a citizen of Great Britain and as a member of the human race in its broadest sense. It would also introduce them to 'big questions' such as:

• History - Why is Britain a country of immigrants?
• Geography - What is Great Britain?
• Religious Studies - What makes a human being human?
• Science - What makes you physically different to other people?
• Physical Education - What creates athletic ability - nature or nurture?

As a history department, we wanted to give students an appreciation of the cultural diversity that exists in modern Britain, but does not really exist within the school community or in Harrogate itself. We wanted to challenge students' preconceptions about immigrants, including perceptions that migration is a new phenomenon and that it has a negative impact on the country. In history lessons in the lead up to the day, students investigated the earlier waves of immigration into Britain, beginning with hte Anglo - Saxons, before moving onto the Romans and Normans. This showed them that to be 'British' is, and always has been an amalgam of all the people who have moved here over the centuries.

Activities
To the strains of 'Who are you?' by The Who, the students streamed expectantly into the hall at 9.00am for a brief introductory session. They were then divided into groups of forty and given a booklet to fill in throughout the day. The rest of the day was a carousel of 50 minute sessions run by each of the faculties/departments.

History
The session began with an excerpt from the Ainsley Harriett episode of the BBC series, 'Who Do You Think You Are?' where he discovered that he had white ancestors. We deliberately chose this moment to challenge students preconceptions about identity; none of us are necessarily who we think we are. In smaller working groups, students investigated the experiences of one of four immigrant groups who had moved to Yorkshire during the last two centuries, including the Irish, Russian Jews, Afro Caribbean, Indian and Pakistani people. They used a variety of written and visual sources to find out the answers to the following questions:

• Why did these immigrants come to Britain?
• Where did they settle?
• How were they received?
• What have they contributed to national life?
• How have they maintained their links with their homeland?

Findings were then compared in a plenary discussion.

Geography
Students participated in a number of group activities focusing on “spaces within Great Britain” – i.e. what is Great Britain’s geographical identity? They began by discussing their favourite spaces in Great Britain and their experiences of them (e.g. holidays, school trips, television programmes, and books). They then played a game of “Great Britain bingo”, where students had to find others in the group who fitted the criteria on the game card (e.g. “find somebody who has been on holiday to Cornwall”). Finally, they were given a number of photographs and asked to identify whether the locations were in Britain or not, and how they could tell. This fed into a plenary discussion about what it is that makes Britain both similar to and different from other countries (e.g. the countryside, mountains, the seaside, towns and cities) and whether there is anything unique about Britain’s geographical identity.

Religious Studies
The focus of the activities was “What makes a human being?”. Students began by looking at a number of posters showing human beings in a variety of situations (e.g. a person climbing a mountain, a wedding photo, the aftermath of a bomb attack) and discussing how each image made them feel about being human – proud or ashamed?
In groups, they then compiled a list in order to answer the question, “What are humans capable of – at our best and at our worst?”. They then diamond – ranked responses from the best capacities to the worst, choosing the 9 they felt to be most important. The session finished with a whole class discussion about whether humans are different to animals and, if so, what makes them different (e.g. morals, intelligence, spirituality).

Science
The session began with a clip from the film ‘Minority report’, about the possible future use of biometric information. Students then spent time in two sessions:

1.       Collecting biometric data about themselves (e.g. height, weight, BMI, heart rate, grip strength and reaction times) and discussing what it might be used for; and

2.      Completing an online activity (from the BBC website) about whether students could tell whether smiles were genuine or not, which led to a discussion on what information our physical appearance can convey to others, whether we can hide our true feelings and the reliability of evidence generally in science.

There was then a plenary session during which students played ‘Human Bingo’ – they had to find others in the group who fitted 20 criteria (e.g. “find somebody in the group with a heart rate over 70bpm”).

Physical Education
Students participated in a number of activities which would tell them more about their physical identity. They completed activities which tested their stamina, muscular endurance, flexibility, strength and coordination – e.g. press ups, bicep curls, skipping and sit ups. They then repeated these activities a number of times, recording their results each time, to see whether they could improve their score.

Impact of the Activities
From student feedback, it was clear that they thoroughly enjoyed the day. They appreciated experiencing a variety of activities outside the classroom environment and approaching the same questions from different subject perspectives.

In subsequent History lessons, students seemed to be better able to make connections between the past and their own lives. the project was a great way of introducing students to one of the most important reasons for studying history - that is, that we can gain a greayer understanding of the present through umnderstanding the past. In addition, it was clear that many students had stories of immigration in their own family history. They were beginning to appreciate that immigration is a 'normal' part of British life, that immigrants are not a homogenous group and that immigrationn has very often had a positive effect on life in Britain.

Thoughts and Reflections
We would definitely recommend this project to other schools. Everybody enjoyed doing something out of the ordinary.It led to many interesting discussions in subsequent lessons and encouraged the staff involved to look for other cross-curricular opportunities. Several months after the event, the students still talk about the day in glowing terms.

"It was really fun!"
"I learnt lots about myself that i didn't know before"
"I know more about myself and what i can do now"

Next Steps for the school
We are already planning next year's 'Who Do We Think We Are?' Day - a testament to its success this year! Taking on board feedback from the students who participated this year, we hope that 'Who Do You Think You Are?" Day 2009 will be even bigger and better!

Written by Nicola Devey, History Teacher, Harrogate Grammar School