This October the students at St Matthias have been celebrating black history month. Activities they have taken part in include:
Y11 students have explained black history month to students during assemblies and form time
Exploring an inspirational black person each day during form time
A visit from a chef from De Wright Flava Caribbean restaurant who taught a cooking lesson for students in Y10
Shakespearean actor, Ira Aldridge, in English
Exploring Martin Luther King in RE
Afro/Latin culture in Spanish
Exploring the work of black artists in Art
Exploring ancient African Kingdoms in Geography and History
Highlighting the work of black scientists in Science
A whole school writing competition
An Afro Beats take over day with STAGO
A Caribbean menu available at lunch time!
Visit from Lord Mayor Cllr Sandra Samuels OBE, Wolverhampton’s first black female Mayor
Visits from Bishop Gilmore Grant and Maureen Lewis of the Black Sisters Collective in Sociology
Visit from Loleitta Higgins, Staffordshire’s first black policewoman
Black History Month Writing competition winners:
Well done to all of the students who got involved in the black history month writing competition! The winning entries were decided unanimously by our year 8 student ambassadors. They took time out to carefully read and determine the winning entries. They were blown away by our top three entries, so much so that they wanted to meet our winner immediately – she received a standing ovation as she walked down the corridor to meet them! The winners awarded gift vouchers in their assemblies for their efforts. The Year 8 ambassadors led the presentation of prizes. Here are the names of the winners and a sample of the winning submission:
First: Hannah Collett with Black Women
Second: A black…happily ever after by Arman Singh
Third: Shanae Richardson with Rosa Parks
Black Women by Hannah Collett
Beautiful people do not always have beautiful hearts,
But black women should take x-rays of their chest and hang pictures of their hearts in museums,
Black women hold art inside of them and their body is a display case,
They are an internal masterpiece buried under soft skin,
melanin mixed with linen.
Black women, the reason black is so bold yet so beautiful.
Their completion radiates from out of their skin observing power that strengthens them within.
Their hair is their crown and their skin the most beautiful of brown,
Black women, the word beautiful starts with the same B that comes from black.
If you say it a certain amount of times it sounds like music.
Black women.
This is a poem for all my beautiful black women.
Students’ comments across the month:
“This has been the best black history month celebration. I am very proud that I am black and I can enjoy of this in school. Having patties for school lunch is a dream come true!” Rayne
“I liked the food and the activities, it’s very cultural, something different” Kaine
“The visitors in school were inspirational” Anmol
Here are some visuals from across black history month for you to enjoy:
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