Pupils raised money for charity by undergoing the same experience as refugees, included being blindfolded, shouted at and having to sleep outdoors in winter.

Year 8 pupils at Alexandra Park School in Bowes Park slept in tents on the school grounds in order to raise money and awareness for the plight of migrants who have travelled across Europe to try and seek asylum in the UK.

They were looking to raise at least £1,000 for the Islington Centre for Refugees and Migrants.

One of the students who took part, Theo Cunningham, said: “It was good, it was fun. But we also appreciated that it is on a much larger scale and a lot more serious for them.

“We wanted to raise money and raise awareness, and to understand what these people have to do. They come to our country to be safe but they can’t understand what is going on, and we need to help them.”

The 24 students were put into ‘families’ – groups of between three and six – given new names, blindfolded, then had to find each other in the school hall only by saying each other’s new names.

They then had to fill out a form in a ‘gobbledygook’ language, then try and convince a border guard who could not speak the same language as them to let them through.

Pupil Emerald Sapani said: “It’s really confusing when you don’t know who is around you or don’t know where to start.

“In our group, our spokesperson failed to convince the border guard to let us in. If they were a refugee they would have let their whole family down.

“If I get a chance I will definitely do more charity work. It made me a lot more grateful for what I have. I used to complain if I had to wait five minutes for a bus – these people have to travel for three months and they might not ever make it.”