Kerr Mackie Primary School

 

 

Black History Month

While Black History is celebrated year round, we celebrate it annually in the month of October. It recognises and values the inspirational individuals and events that have shaped history. We remember and celebrate the important people from the past and also those who contribute to and help our society today. We had a full week of lessons, activities and assemblies designed to explore this area of the curriculum. As you can see from the pictures below lots of fabulous work was produced by the children.

Nursery & Reception

This week, Beech class talked all about how we are different and how we are the same.

First we listened to the story, 'How We Are Different'. As we listened, we talked about who we live with at home.

Then, we discussed which different fruit we all liked. We discovered that sometimes lots of us like the same fruit (like grapes) and sometimes just a few of us like the same (like tomatoes).

Lastly, we looked at how we look different or the same. We used mirrors to look closely at our features, such as eye colour, hair length and colour and if we are boys or girls.

 

We created self portraits using lots of different materials. We made sure to match the colours we were using to ourselves and thought carefully about what type of materials would best match our hair. 

Fabulous work everyone!

Years 1 & 2

 

In Year 1 for Black History Month our main focus was Mae Jemison. We focussed on her Space successes to link to our topic of Space. Mae’s parents told her that, if she believed it and worked hard for it, she could be anything she wanted to be. We used this idea to think about what we would like to be when we grow up. Some of us said we can be bakers, dentists, gamers and even a chocolate tester! All we have to do is believe it and work hard for it.

In our art lessons, we looked at traditional clothing/headpieces. We explored colours and pattern and created some beautiful mixed media pieces.

 

Year 3 & 4

In Year 4, we have been learning about Eniola Aluko.  Born in Lagos, Nigeria, she went on to play professional football for clubs in England, USA and Italy, and made over 100 appearances for England.  The children have drawn  portraits of Eniola, with words describing her and her impact on the world.  We also created factfiles about her.  Read our quotes below to find out how Eniola has inspired us.

Year 5 & 6

In Year 5 we focus on the triangular trade in manufactured goods, slaves and raw materials such as cotton, sugar, cocoa & coffee between Europe, West Africa and the Americas.  We had some excellent discussions about the origins of this trade and the conditions that the slaves were transported in.  We contrasted this with how some families in Leeds, particularly the Lascelles at Harewood House, benefited from the slave trade. 

 

Year 6 also studied the trans-Atlantic slave trade and contrasted it with the movement towards Fair Trade between rich and poor countries which has become important since the end of the 20th century.