Black History Month

At Queen Anne’s School we always strive to ensure that our community extends our core values of trust, respect, honesty, tolerance and compassion.  We look to instil these in everything we do, from teaching across the National Curriculum to encouraging our community to constantly think, challenge and debate.  October is Black History Month, and the Queen Anne’s School Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Society presented an important an informative assembly on this topic to the whole school virtually as one of a number of initiatives that are taking place throughout the month, raising awareness of black history.  

“Black History Month is a chance to highlight the achievements and contributions of black people through the ages, and highlight the many day-to-day struggles and barriers to progress that they still face. Many young people believe that the quality and scope of black history covered in schools needs to be re-evaluated” said Lower Sixth student Joanna.

“Growing up in the British education system, it was hard not to notice that many of the figures we studied in subjects such as history and English were white. Being a young, impressionable child I grew up thinking that it was simply because most of the important historical figures just happened to be white. It was not until I started reading outside of class and doing my own research that I learnt that black people were just as important in British history as white people. From the Windrush generation to the Bristol bus boycott, black people had made significant impacts in the way we now live our lives. Now that I am older, I realise how much representation matters and how much the British curriculum has failed its young black children by not teaching them that black history is a part of British history.”

“Through the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Society’s assembly, we wanted to educate the Queen Anne’s community” explained Sahiba, also in the Lower Sixth. “We aimed to raise awareness of what Black History Month is, its origins in the UK and why it is so important to celebrate and recognise the events and people who have shaped and continue to shape our society and history. We outlined some important black figures that affected all areas of the UK’s history in order to reiterate the fact that black history is in fact also British history. We hope that our assembly, and the subsequent links we sent out, will inspire people to take the time to use the resources to improve their knowledge on these issues that are very close to our heart.”

In the future, the Queen Anne’s School Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Society plan to visit tutor groups across the school years to have important conversations with students, share resources, and become an overall support system for those who feel like they have experienced any kind of discrimination, either inside or outside of school.

Queen Anne’s School is also working closely with our Alumnae to work towards making our school curriculum more inclusive for all, and have already started making changes across the school.

We would also like to encourage you to watch this video on our Youtube channel, that highlights the stories of important women in black history. This video was put together by Lower Sixth students Joanna, Zoe and Tilly, and edited by Gaia. It includes a moving drama piece performed by Rafiah, and an original song composed and sung by Serena, who recently won Berkshire Young Singer of the Year.

Thank you very much to our Lower Sixth and the Queen Anne’s School Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Society for preparing this important assembly. You can view the assembly slides, which include links to come useful resources, here.