How Black History Month was Celebrated in Schools

CERI THOMAS, HEADTEACHER OF WICK AND MARCROSS CHURCH IN WALES PRIMARY SCHOOL, TALKS TO US ABOUT BLACK HISTORY MONTH

With school budgets pushed to the limits there is always excitement from staff when free resources pop through the door. Sometimes these resources end up gathering dust on the staffroom shelves. However, this was not the case when the Diocese gifted two wonderful books for schools to use during Black History Month. The books not only told the stories of inspirational people but gave us the platform to explore and think about how Christian faith had provided a base from which to take action and the courage to speak out.

Throughout October the children explored the lives and faith of Martin Luther King Jnr and Harriet Tubman. There were the ‘usual’ activities around sequencing events in the lives of these remarkable people, writing our own ‘I have a dream’ speeches and identifying what it was about their character that had made them take a stand. But our learning was about more than that. Our classes became ‘classes divided’ based purely on physical attributes to help us focus on the realities of discrimination.

Our thoughts turned to action towards the end of the month when we wrote to Swansea Council about Jessie Donaldson (an anti-slavery campaigner) and how we could celebrate her Welsh roots.

As October drew to a close we thought about the impact of our faith in our own lives and how this is not limited to one month.