Black History Month is about honouring the contributions made to society by people of African and Caribbean heritage. Black History Month is a time to educate and enrich the world with the importance of Black history and how it shapes society today.
The theme this year is ‘Time For Change: Action Now Words” and we have taken this forward in our school.
The key messages were why Black History Month is important. Of course, all history is important, but Black history has all too often focused on issues like slavery and this shapes an identity that is not whole. We all celebrated British history in the recent funeral for Elizabeth II when the pageantry, tradition, monarchy and democracy were key features and Black history is inter-twined with this as much as anyone else’s.
Similarly, we talked about why Black Lives Matter. Again, all lives matter, but when we see the inequality in the world, sometimes some groups need to take a higher priority. We linked this to sexism, homophobia and social class. We looked at a queue in hospital and saw that sometimes some people have to take priority because their position is more of a problem.
The week saw assemblies by both tutor groups and out Headteacher to make these points. Meanwhile, in the Sixth Form, our Head Boy and Head Girl, Will Moseley and Grace Williams, took the lead.
Elsewhere, we have an exhibition of campaign posters and slogans for Black lives Matter, but also other campaigns for equality too. There was a competition run on the exhibition and with over 300 entries the winner was Ella Butler (Y7) who won a £25 Amazon voucher.
Elsewhere, there was a Year 12 Debating Competition focusing on racism in the British justice system and tutor time activities which further explored the them.
Matt Allman, Headteacher, said: “We are making a big push in addressing social inequalities this year through our Focus Week programme. This includes Black History Month, International Women’s Day, Refugee Week and Gay Pride. We live in a great country which prides itself on respect and consideration for others and it is our job to educate our students about the inequalities that still exist so they can take it forward in the years ahead. No rational person can think that giving everyone a fair chance is wrong and we want our students to take a lead in instilling this in their lives and more widely in their community.”
If you would like to learn more about Black History Month click here.