Exploring & Belonging in Huddersfield Resources
MESH’s Exploring and Belonging project took place in Huddersfield between September and November 2024. Our partners in Huddersfield were TSL (Third Sector Leaders Kirklees), Kirklees Local Studies Library and Kirklees Libraries, who supported us in providing sessions with people seeking asylum, refugees and other ESOL learners.
On this page, you will find information about Huddersfield and materials for teachers wanting to use our resources in the classroom.
Huddersfield has a long history of migration. On the Exploring and Belonging course, English learners from established South Asian communities joined together with migrants new to Huddersfield and together researched places they valued as helping them feel they belong in the town. They took photos and videos and recorded each other speaking.
In collaboration with participants, MESH has created bespoke downloadable reading resources at E1 and E3 levels about Castle Hill and Masjid Noor. There are also associated audio-visual resources - follow the links below.
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Castle Hill...Click here for E-Reading Resources
This is an iconic feature of the Huddersfield landscape, a place which has been settled periodically from Neolithic times onwards. There was a Norman castle here, and traces can still be seen of old walls and forts. Now, there is a Victorian tower. When we climbed up, we talked about what people do at such heights, across space and time…
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Masjid Noor...Click here for E-Reading Resources
This mosque was established in the 1970s in an ex-Methodist chapel in the Thornton Lodge area of Huddersfield. Huddersfield is a textile town, and the history of the establishment of mosques and other places of worship in the town is intertwined with the history of migration. Masjid Noor was one of the first mosques in Huddersfield, and continues to be a place of welcome and community.
This slide set offers ideas for using the Huddersfield reading resources in the classroom. You can download or simply show the slides from this page in class. The slides include activities and links to worksheets, There are 17 slides. Use in conjunction with teacher notes and worksheets
These Teaching Notes provide further guidance for classroom delivery. You can download and adapt, or view them here for a quick overview. The notes suggest ways to help learners interact more deeply with the reading resources by focusing on key vocabulary and information within it, and then encouraging them to explore their own sense of belonging in the area where they live. Including suggestions for activities and approaches for use with learners at different levels, from Entry 1 to Entry 3 +. You can build these suggestions into your lesson plans.
Our Keywords list provides support for those reading our reading resources. They are embedded for a quick view or you can download them via the link below. The keywords list has a separate tab for each of the the places in our resources: Castle Hill and Masjid Noor. They include audio for pronunciation support, as well as sample sentences deploying keywords.
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Masjid Noor - E3+ WorksheetClick for worksheet
Follow this link for the worksheet that are featured as links in the slides.
A set of slides offering information about Huddersfield’s history for teachers to explore with their learners including links and videos for additional support. The focus in these slides is Huddersfield’s history as a textile town, and the associated migration in the 20th century.
In this video, you will explore the history of Huddersfield, a town in Yorkshire, England.
The video Colne Valley, Huddersfield 1950s showcases the Colne Valley region in the UK during the 1950s, presented in colour footage. It provides a glimpse into daily life, capturing various scenes from the era. The video highlights the natural beauty of the area, as well as the local communities, industry, and infrastructure that defined Huddersfield during the mid-20th century. The footage offers valuable historical insight into the way of life in the Colne Valley, with special attention to the architecture, transport, and the people who lived and worked in this scenic region. The video is credited to Lucy Fairbank and the producers who worked on this version
The video A New Life in Huddersfield: Memories of Partition and Migration explores the personal accounts of individuals who migrated to Huddersfield, UK, in the aftermath of the Partition of India in 1947. It sheds light on their experiences of starting a new in a foreign land, the challenges they faced, and the memories they carry from their homeland. The documentary highlights the impact of migration on their identities and the cultural exchanges that shaped the community in Huddersfield.
Acknowledgement
Using money raised by National Lottery players, The National Lottery Heritage Fund supports projects that connect people and communities with the UK’s heritage. Exploring & Belonging is made possible with The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, we have been able to run sessions for refugees and asylum seekers to enable them to explore, discuss and write about what is of value as local heritage in the place they live in Yorkshire & Humber. These resources have been generated by participants in these sessions, in collaboration with the MESH team. This project has also been supported by Migration Yorkshire.
