We invite you to explore the range of activities and projects the children completed for Black History Month. Prepare to be blown away by the awesome hats from Nursery and the eye-catching portraits of Sade Adu from Discovery (Y6).
BHM in Nursery
Nursery had a class carnival with dressing up, dancing and shaking instruments along with Yolanda’s Band. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p06vc6tb/yolandas-band-jam
Significant individual: Errol Lloyd
Errol Lloyd is a Jamaican-born artist, writer, and illustrator who moved to London in 1963. Although he originally came to study law, he became a pioneering Black British artist who helped create positive images of Black children and families in children’s books.
His first children’s book, “My Brother Sean” (1973), was the first picture book by a mainstream UK publisher to feature Black children, and he received special recognition for this important work. Errol has written over 20 children’s books and his young adult novel “Many Rivers to Cross” was nominated for the prestigious Carnegie Medal.
As a sculptor, Errol created bronze busts of important Caribbean and Black British figures including poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, cricketer Sir Garfield Sobers, and writer C.L.R. James. He is completely self-taught as an artist and has spent decades supporting other Black artists and helping celebrate Black culture and identity through his work.
Lubaina Himid is a British artist and curator born in Zanzibar in 1954. She moved to Britain as a baby and studied Theatre Design at Wimbledon College of Art, which influenced her bold and colourful artistic style.
Himid was one of the first artists involved in the UK’s Black Art movement in the 1980s and has spent her career championing Black artists, particularly women. She organized important exhibitions like “The Thin Black Line” in 1985, creating spaces for Black artists to show their work in major galleries.
Her artwork explores hidden histories and celebrates the lives of African and Caribbean people throughout history. In 2017 she became the first Black woman to win the prestigious Turner Prize, one of the most important awards in British art. Her paintings use bright colours and bold patterns to tell stories about identity, history, and everyday life.
She is a professor of contemporary art at the University of Central Lancashire and continues to create powerful artwork that is shown in galleries around the world.
BHM in Year 1 (Aura class)
Aura class discussed what it means to be different, especially in the past. As a class, they studied his poem ‘People Need People’ and created a whole class performance. Enjoy listening!
Significant individual: Benjamin Zephaniah (1958–2023)
Benjamin Zephaniah was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. He was born in Birmingham on 15 April 1958 and grew up in Handsworth, which he called the Jamaican capital of Europe.
Benjamin left school at 13, unable to read or write because of dyslexia, but he didn’t let that stop him. His mission was to take poetry everywhere and make it accessible to everyone, especially people who didn’t usually read books. He turned poetry readings into exciting performances with music and rhythm, influenced by Jamaican poetry and reggae music.
His first book of poetry for children, “Talking Turkeys,” was a startling success, and children loved his playful use of words and sounds. He wrote about important issues like racism, fairness, and protecting the environment and animals. He was a Rastafarian and a passionate vegan who believed in treating all living things with respect.
In a BBC poll he was voted the nation’s third favourite poet of all time, behind T.S. Eliot and John Donne, and was the only living poet in the top ten. Benjamin sadly passed away in December 2023, but his powerful poetry continues to inspire people around the world.
BHM in Year 2
Year 2s studied Marcus Rashford and learned not only about his profession as a football player but also about his amazing efforts to make sure children don’t go hungry when schools are closed.
Significant individual: Marcus Rashford
Marcus Rashford MBE (born 1997)
Marcus Rashford was born on 31 October 1997 in Manchester and grew up in areas like Fallowfield and Wythenshawe. He is a professional footballer who plays for Manchester United and the England national team, but he’s also famous for helping children across the UK.
Marcus comes from a working class family; his mother Melanie worked multiple jobs, sometimes skipping meals to ensure her children had enough to eat. Growing up, Marcus and his family relied on free school meals and breakfast clubs, so he understands what it’s like when families struggle.
During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Marcus started a campaign to make sure children didn’t go hungry when schools were closed. He convinced the government to provide free school meals during the holidays, helping 1.3 million children. He partnered with the charity FareShare and raised over £20 million to help families get food.
For his amazing work helping children, Marcus received an MBE award from Prince William and became the youngest person ever to receive an honorary degree from the University of Manchester. He continues to use his voice to speak up for children and families who need help, showing that one person really can make a big difference!
BHM in year 3 Orion class
Significant individual: Eniola Aluko
Orion class have created vibrant and thoughtful collages of Eniola Aluko!
Eniola “Eni” Aluko was born in Lagos, Nigeria, and moved to Birmingham with her family when she was just six months old. She grew up playing football with her brother Sone and his friends, and made her debut for Birmingham City at just 14 years old. She went on to make 102 appearances for the England national team, competing in multiple World Cups and European Championships. She also represented Great Britain at the 2012 London Olympics.
Away from football, Eni graduated from university with a first-class degree in Law and qualified as a solicitor. She became the first female footballer to appear on Match of the Day in 2014 and has since become a respected TV presenter and commentator. She is also an active advocate for the social impact of football and equality of opportunity for girls and women.
Eniola is a brilliant role model — showing children that you can be brave, outspoken, and use your voice to stand up for what is right, both on and off the pitch.
BHM in Columbia Class
Significant individual: John Boyega
Columbia class learned about John Boyega and were particularly intrigued to hear that, just like them, he attended Oliver Goldsmith Primary School!. Have a look at some of the shields created.
John Boyega was born in Peckham, South London, to Nigerian immigrant parents. He recognised his love of acting at just five years old, and when he was spotted in a school play at nine, he began attending Theatre Peckham — a learning theatre for young people in South London — after school hours. He went on to train at the Identity School of Acting and won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2016.
John is best known internationally for playing Finn in the Star Wars films, becoming the first Black actor with a major role in the franchise. When some people were unkind about this, John responded by telling them to simply “get used to it” — showing exactly the kind of courage and confidence that made him a role model.
In 2020, John gave a powerful speech at a Black Lives Matter rally in Hyde Park, London, speaking up for equality and justice. He has always believed in using his voice to stand up for what is right — for himself and for others.
John Boyega shows us that where you come from doesn’t limit where you can go — and that being brave, kind and outspoken can change the world.
BHM in year 4
Significant individual: Lady Phyll
Phyllis Akua Opoku-Gyimah — widely known as Lady Phyll — is a pioneering activist and community organiser who was born in Islington, London, to Ghanaian parents. Growing up in London in the 1980s and 90s, the challenges she faced sparked a deep passion for fighting for fairness and equality, and she became involved in activism from a young age.
She co-founded UK Black Pride, now the world’s largest celebration for LGBTQ+ people of African, Asian, Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Latin American descent. What began as a modest gathering has, through Lady Phyll’s determination and leadership, grown into Europe’s leading celebration for Black LGBTQ+ people.
Lady Phyll has dedicated her career to tackling discrimination and campaigning for a better future, fighting for racial justice, gender equality, workers’ rights and the rights of LGBTQ+ people around the world. In 2016, she was nominated for an MBE, but she turned it down in protest at how LGBTQ+ people are still being persecuted in Commonwealth countries — showing real courage in standing up for what she believes in.
She has been featured on the World Pride Power List and named in the Top 100 Most Influential LGBT People. Lady Phyll shows us that one person, with enough determination and heart, can build something that changes the world.
Pioneer class created mood boards for everything she fights for using a range of techniques and styles. Have a look.
BHM in year 5
Significant individual: Malorie Blackman
Ulysses class designed letters in Malorie’s name with inspiration from her books and the themes explored in them. Have a look at some of these designs here:
BHM in year 6
Significant individual: Claudia Jones
Claudia Vera Jones was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, on 21 February 1915. In 1924, she and her family sailed to New York, where her parents had gone in search of a better life — but as she later recalled, they found poverty and racism instead. Faced with these injustices, Claudia turned to political activism as a teenager, and began working as a writer, eventually becoming editor of a newspaper campaigning for workers, housing rights and equality.
In 1949 she published a hugely influential essay arguing that Black women faced a triple burden of racism, sexism and poverty all at once — an early version of what we now call “intersectionality.” Her deep involvement in political campaigning made her a target for the American government, and she was jailed four times before a deportation order was served in 1955. As a subject of the British Empire, she was sent to London.
Here, rather than being defeated, she threw herself back into the fight. In 1958 she founded the West Indian Gazette, one of the first major Black newspapers in Britain, which became her platform to challenge racism and give the Caribbean community a voice. Then, following the violent Notting Hill race riots of 1958, she worked to “wash the taste of the riots from the mouths of Black people” — and helped launch the very first Caribbean Carnival in London in 1959. Today, the Notting Hill Carnival is the second largest street gathering in the world.
Claudia Jones died in London in 1964, before she had even turned 50. Her gravestone in Highgate Cemetery describes her as “a valiant fighter against racism and imperialism who dedicated her life to the progress of socialism and the liberation of her own Black people.”
Challenger class went to carnival learning all about Claudia Jones. Inspired by her contribution to create one of the world’s largest and well-known street carnival, Notting Hill Carnival, Challenger class created our their own carnival headdresses. They combined this with prior knowledge of the steel pan which originates from Claudia Jones’ homeland Trinidad & Tobago. Have a listen to some of the year 6s on the steelpans.
BHM in year 6
Significant individual: Sade Adu
Helen Folasade Adu was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. Her father was a Nigerian economics lecturer, and her mother an English nurse. When she was four, her parents separated and her mother brought Sade and her elder brother back to England, where they lived with their grandparents near Colchester, Essex.
After completing school, Sade moved to London and studied fashion design at Saint Martin’s School of Art, where she also modelled — at the time showing no particular desire to pursue music. But her extraordinary voice was impossible to ignore. When record company scouts spotted her performing with the band Pride, they wanted to sign Sade alone — and after lengthy negotiations, she and several bandmates left to form the group that would bear her name.
Their debut album Diamond Life (1984) won the Brit Award for Best British Album and a Grammy for Best New Artist. She has since sold over 110 million albums worldwide and won multiple Grammy Awards — all while famously protecting her privacy and letting her music speak for itself. She is widely regarded as one of the most iconic voices in British music history
Discovery class have created some astonishing depictions of Sade and have also shared their knowledge in a video. Enjoy!
Black History Month 2025: Standing Firm in Power and Pride
The theme for Black History Month UK 2025 is Standing Firm in Power and Pride — a powerful tribute to the resilience, strength and unwavering commitment to progress that defines the Black community across the globe. This year’s theme highlights the profound contributions made by Black people — be they leaders, activists or pioneers — who have shaped history, while also looking towards a future of continued empowerment, unity and growth.
The theme is not only about remembrance but a call to action — inviting individuals and communities to stand firm in their power with pride, and to actively shape a world where Black voices are heard, valued and celebrated. 2025 also marks the 60th anniversary of the Race Relations Act — a landmark moment in the ongoing journey towards racial justice and equality in Britain.
At our school, we believe it is vital that children begin learning this history from an early age. When pupils see people who look like them reflected in the stories they study — as activists, authors, musicians, footballers and pioneers — it builds confidence, pride and a genuine sense of belonging. Equally, it broadens every child’s understanding of the diverse world they are growing up in, nurturing empathy, respect and curiosity. Black history is British history, and an incomplete curriculum produces an incomplete picture of our society.
The remarkable figures celebrated in the work you see here — Eniola Aluko, John Boyega, Lady Phyll, Malorie Blackman, Sade Adu and Claudia Jones — all stood firm in their own power and pride. We are incredibly proud of the creativity, thought and care our pupils have poured into bringing their stories to life.
