On the 8th of June 1913, a woman stepped out onto a race course at the Epsom Derby.  Sadly, she was knocked over by the horse and killed.  The woman's name was Emily Davison - She was a suffragette.

Emily Davison was a 40 year old woman who protested militantly for the emancipation of women, she was jailed on 9 occasions and force fed 49 times. 

On the fateful day Emily had bought a return train ticket and a ticket for a dance in the evening.  There is some debate surrounding her death.  Some argue that Emily committed suicide to become a martyr to the cause whilst, others argue she was trying to cause disruption the race to highlight her fight.

 

Writing opportunities

• Rewrite the episode as a recount.
• Write the narrative as a news report.
• Write a description of what it felt like being on your father's shoulders.  As if you are really high - like being on the back of a giant.  Use similes for description.
• Whilst on father's back describe the crowd scene using prepositional phrases. 
• Give the children characters to portray, children who saw it from their father's back, the king whose horse was injured, some one who heard about the event but didn't see it etc.  Would a rich gentleman's point of view be different to a fellow Suffragette? Other Opportunities
  • Discuss 'Freedom' and what it means to the children.  
  • Link to other famous emancipation campaigners such as William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King Jnr, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln etc
  • Organise class votes on subjects close to the childrens' hearts but perhaps deny the girls/boys the right to vote. Would it change the outcome?
  • Discuss why 'emancipation' was so important to these women. 

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