The recent Black History Month competition has been a great success. We have had over 100 entrants ranging from Year 3 pupils to Mr Townsend himself (please click here to read his article on Paul Stephenson, Roland Butcher and Viv Anderson) and the quality of the submissions has been incredibly high. There has been some excellent artwork but also some powerful pieces of creative writing and even some music to enjoy; as well as well researched and thoughtful articles on a wide range of figures, some of whom really do deserve to be better known!
 

What has really struck me is pupils’ sense of personal engagement with the topic and their careful research has also brought home to me the fascinating range of black peoples’ contributions to British life, both in the past and present.

Deciding on the winning entry was an all-but-impossible task but in the end, one entry above all others impressed me with its historical depth and the articulate, perceptive way in which the information and arguments were conveyed. The contrasting lives of Olaudah Equiano, Stephen Lawrence and Kamala Harris were explored with a great deal of sophistication and sensitivity. Therefore, I am pleased to announce that the winners of Felsted’s first ever Black History Month competition are Nikhil S, Gavish S and Viraj S- well done indeed on a superb collective effort! See their winning videos below:

The following pupils were deserved runners-up and will receive a Headmaster’s Commendation and a copy of David Olusoga’s Black and British-A short, essential history, as a prize:

• Deborah A - a powerful piece of creative writing based on Noughts and Crosses
• Grace B - a really interesting essay on the swimmer, Alice Dearing
• Oscar H - a brilliant video about Naomi Campbell
• Thomas R - a perceptive essay on Diane Abbott
• Sachiko S - a well argued article about Mary Seacole
• Phoebe H - a wide ranging and well researched video about Mary Seacole
• Harriet W - a brilliant piece on the impact of Stephen Lawrence’s murder in 1993
• Julia Z - a great portrait of Diane Abbott
• Elfine A - a really innovative artistic portrayal of the historian, David Olusoga, featuring quotes from some of his work
• Anna B - an excellent poem about British sprinter ( and History graduate! ), Dina Asher-Smith
• Joseph B - a thoughtful piece of writing on Kofoworola Abeni Pratt, the NHS’s first black nurse
• Marlene M - a thought-provoking portrait of Stephen Lawrence
• Rocco J - a wide ranging poem on a number of historical and cultural figures

Congratulations to all concerned and I hope that although Black History Month is now officially over, we can carry on with positive conversations about inclusion, diversity and what it means to be British in the 21st century.
 

Rakesh Pathak
Chair of the Equality and Diversity Committee
Head of History & Politics
rp@felsted.org