Not Just for Black History Month

Early years and primary educators should look beyond Black History Month as the sole opportunity to cram in learning about Black-Britons’ experiences. After all, their history is British history too and, as such, Black- British history should be spread more broadly throughout curriculum, as my young son astutely pointed out.

As Windrush Day is fast approaching on 22 June, I wanted to highlight a few recently published core texts to support teaching about this significant event in modern British history, from early years to Key Stage Two.

Coming to England by Floella Benjamin, illustrated by Diane Ewen. Published by Macmillan Children’s (2020).

In this inspiring picture book, adapted from her seminal autobiography of the same title, Floella Benjamin sensitively recounts her personal story

of moving from Trinidad to England with her family, as a child of the Windrush generation.

On opening the book, you are instantly transported to Floella’s homeland. Diane Ewen’s rich endpapers burst with bold colours, evoking a real sense of the warm Caribbean climate and luscious plant life. Children in the early years will love spotting and counting the butterflies and lizards tucked among the tropical foliage. The lizard motif cleverly appears in most of the Trinidadian scenes, providing opportunities to practise prepositional language, for example, the lizard is on the chair, jumping into the river, and dancing in the air.

Through the text and exquisite illustrations, we learn about Floella’s wholesome upbringing in Trinidad: the family’s substantial home, delicious fresh food, schooling, and outdoor play during the hot and wet seasons. Life in Trinidad was happy and contented, not riven by desperation and hardship as is often the blanket Anglocentric perception.

Floella’s desire to meet Queen Elizabeth II is perhaps a fictional addition used to successfully drive the story forward to a satisfying payoff. But this structural device also reminds us of the deep-seated loyalty many people in the British colonies felt towards the imperial motherland. Importantly, Benjamin provides specific reasons for her family’s move to England: a newspaper advert and Dardie’s ambition to work as a talented jazz musician. England was by no means the family’s saviour: it presented an exciting change which they embraced optimistically.

Linking to geography, children in Key Stage One could study a contrasting locality in Trinidad, comparing the human and physical features with a location in the UK. Prompted by the suitcase references in the story, they could imagine packing for a holiday to Trinidad, deciding what clothes or items to include. They might also consider why Floella and her sister Sandra did not have warm clothes for their journey to England (geography).

The carefully selected memories — moving to a new house and making new friends — are themes that resonate with children as they are likely to have had similar experiences. Benjamin’s light-hearted, gentle writing style exudes her trademark positivity even while recalling awful moments of her early life in Britain. She masterfully retells harsh truths, including racial prejudice, but delivers them simply through a child’s innocent eyes. Her recollection of racial discrimination at school could be discussed in the context of bullying and how to tackle it. The playground scenes in the book demonstrate Floella’s unflinching determination to break through with her white peers, despite their initial negativity (PSHE).

The Story of the Windrush by K.N. Chimbiri. Published by Scholastic Children’s (2020)

In June 1948, HMT Empire Windrush docked in Essex with expectant travellers — mostly Caribbeans — on an adventure to Britain. Over seventy years on these travellers are part of what is now called the ‘Windrush generation’, their historic arrival recently brought into focus by the deportation scandal.

Kandace Chimbri’s non-fiction text, republished by Scholastic, is essential for teaching modern British history at Key Stage Two. Child-friendly books on this topic are generally lacking so this concise easy-to-read account is needed, not least because it challenges the whitewashed notion of poor Jamaicans, seeking a better life, being welcomed in by benevolent Britain.

Chimbri’s approach is more nuanced. She explains the multiple reasons Caribbeans of varying socio-economic status chose to relocate, from a desire to help their devastated imperial motherland after World War Two, to the pursuit of further education in Britain. We also discover that, although most passengers were Jamaican, people from other nations —Trinidad, Gibraltar, Burma, Barbados, Poland, and Britain — made the journey too, providing a sense of an internationally shared experience as opposed to ‘them and us’.

The book contextualises the arrival of the Empire Windrush within the broader sociopolitical climate before and after 1948. Chimbiri highlights Caribbeans’ prior existence in Britain as well as their huge contribution as armed services members during World War Two. She carefully describes the racism and harsh living conditions Black people endured and how their community-mindedness, determination, and entrepreneurial spirit helped them overcome difficulties for decades, within a predominantly white society.

The text is presented in clear manageable chunks interspersed with colourful maps, sepia illustrations, and photos from various archives. There is a useful glossary and timeline, at the back, to extend children’s vocabulary and deepen their understanding. Cross-curricular links include report writing (English), map skills or study of a Caribbean island, for example, Trinidad (geography), and learning about Calypso and famous Caribbean singers (music). The publisher Scholastic has produced detailed lesson plans to support use of this text with pupils (see Teacher resources below).

This engaging, sensitively told version of the Windrush story explodes long-held myths, challenging dominant perspectives of modern British history.

Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah. Published by Scholastic Children’s (2020)

Windrush Child is the story of Leonard, a young boy whipped away from a wholesome Jamaican countryside life to urban Manchester, following a move to Britain with his mum in 1958. Leonard was just a baby when dad Morris voyaged to England on the Empire Windrush ten years earlier, to support his family working in the imperial motherland by invitation of the British government.

Leonard’s early years are safe and contented, soaking up grandma’s fascinating tales of Jamaican history, eating luscious fruit straight from the trees, and listening to animal calls in Maroon Town’s bush. But his blissful course is diverted when Morris asks the family to join him in Manchester, leading to a turbulent adventure for Leonard. Try as he might to adjust and fit in, England is just one huge disappointment. As well as the food and cold weather, shocking racial abuse affects Leonard deeply, and he yearns to return to his beloved grandma, and tranquil life back home.

Reading this powerful historical fiction from the Scholastic’s Voices series, is a refreshing and emotional experience. Benjamin Zephaniah speaks unsaid truths about what life was like for the children of the Windrush generation, amalgamating his first-hand experiences with the factual accounts of his contemporaries to create fictional Leonard’s captivating story.

The writing is brilliantly uncompromising in a way the makes the topics of racism and discrimination accessible for older children. The author’s prologue prepares readers for offensive words in the text — ‘golliwog’ probably being the strongest example. Teachers and parents should judge the suitability of the text based on the maturity levels of individual children or classes, though I will say the author’s use of this highly emotive language is restrained, precise, and contextualised.

Importantly the story is told from their perspective instead of using a top-down historical approach. It’s a stark and timely reminder that the choice to come to Britain did not guarantee a happy ending for all legitimate Black-British citizens.

Fabia Turner is the founder of the Jericho Prize for Children’s Writing. She is also a former primary school teacher and educational book editor with a lifelong passion for children’s literature. With twelve years’ combined experience in education and publishing, she has advocated for the use of multicultural and multi-ethnic resources in UK schools while working in both sectors. In 2018, she created Candid Cocoa, an arts blog now focused on getting more Black children’s books into primary schools.

Teacher resources

Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) teaching notes: Coming to England (free to download) https://clpe.org.uk/teaching-notes-comingengland

The Story of the Windrush: lesson notes (free to registered subscribers) https://resource-bank.scholastic.co.uk/resources/447340

Windrush Foundation https://windrushfoundation.com/