To get our children and young people involved in Black History Month, our homes have been facilitating various learning opportunities throughout October.

For one home, this learning took the form of information sessions, looking at the history of the British Empire and then learning about the Windrush generation as well as migration to England and the positive impact that Caribbean communities have made in the UK. The young people were keen to be involved in the conversation and were able acknowledge the “importance of us learning about this part of history”. The discussion allowed our young people to share their own knowledge with the wider group about important historic events like the story of Rosa Parks and they genuinely showed an interest in wanting to learn more; our staff have been keen to utilise this momentum, and Rose (a GRACE Ambassador) has more sessions planned.

Meanwhile, in another home, the children chose to research Michael Jordan (with a view to studying his impact as a highly regarded and celebrated black sportsperson not only within the sporting world but also in society through his many charity endeavours). The children watched videos and were supported with fun research, and it provided a lovely opportunity for them to have positive and engaging discussions which then fed into topics including Malcom X. Staff found that Malcom X’s story resonated with the young people as he too had been in care; they connected with the history through their own experiences in care and this further supported their learning about the influential leader and his impact on the civil rights movement.

Lastly, another home chose to centre their learning around food and dinner times. As part of a wider conversation surrounding the celebration of diversity, various members of staff brought in flags, currency, photos and food linked to their own heritage and the home thoroughly enjoyed the hands-on learning together. The sharing of foods provided the perfect chance to try new things and ask questions in a safe space (for both the young people and adults); after trying foods from across the globe, one young person was keen to announce the Nigerian meal as his favourite of the week.

The facilitation and encouragement of these sessions (and organic discussions) have helped to create a wider picture and understanding of why Black History Month is so important to acknowledge and recognise, and it’s been great to see such active participation from the children and young people.