Black History Month at George Spicer
As a school, we are incredibly proud to offer our pupils a diverse and engaging curriculum, which hopes to reflect our school community therefore we champion Black History Month and advocate what it stands for. This October, the children have already had an assembly on the reasons why we celebrate Black History – focusing on how Black history has either been ignored or distorted in the past and how we aim to rectify this. There will be subsequent assemblies on lesser known famous black individuals such as Shaka Zulu, Troussaint Louverture and Mansa Musa.
Year groups have also been allocated a famous black woman to do an individual homework project on. The winners will be chosen by the School Council and receive a copy of the book 'Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History'. One of our other aims at George Spicer is to have a range of books available that reflect the diversity of our school, therefore we have invested in improving our class libraries to include stories written by and featuring people of colour. However, we don’t want the learning to stop at the end of the school day, therefore, please follow this link https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/
Celebrating black authors:
Each week, in October, we will have a recommendation of both an EYFS/KS1 and KS2 book from the teachers. The teachers will choose a book they love that is written by a black author. By doing this, we hope to celebrate diversity within our reading choices. Please read below this week's teacher recommendations:
EYFS/KS1:
Shine By Sarah Asoquo
Reviewed by Miss Cunningham
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Shine is a heart-warming story about a little boy called Kai who is excited to return to school after the summer holidays. However, when he returns, he finds that he is mocked by his peers for being different. Kai begins to doubt himself and feels worried about his special qualities.
Kai speaks to his mother and with her help he starts to realise that he is valuable and important! His mother explains to him that all the stars and the moon are different, but they all shine beautifully in the sky. Kai begins to recognise his positive qualities and decides to use them to shine!
Shine is a poignant story that encourages young readers to celebrate diversity and to take pride in their individual qualities. This book deals with issues around self-confidence, self-esteem and forgiveness in a manner that is accessible even for our youngest learners.
KS2:
New Kid by Jerry Craft
Reviewed by Miss Foster
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This book was actually recommended to me by a child in my class. After he explained what it was about I was intrigued and had to read it, and I’m glad I did! New Kid is about a young boy in America whose parents send him to a prestigious private school, instead of the art school of his dreams. He ends up being one of the only children from a black background in his year group and is finding it hard to fit in – torn between two worlds and not quite knowing where he fits.
This engaging and emotional story is explored through humour, heartbreak and contemporary challenges to encourage the reader to empathise with Jordan and his struggles and emotions throughout. The storyline and book itself are extremely engaging and is illustrated in a comic style throughout, which makes it eye-catching and immersive. The illustrations are dynamic and expressive through the use of emojis and imaginative comedic elements to appeal to a wider audience.
I believe this book addresses and explores such important topics in an insightful way. The topics it explores are relevant issues that we should all be aware of. Jordan is a resilient and brave character when facing adversity, something that we can all learn from and channel when things are tough.