A wonderful start to our celebration of the diversity that Black History Month brings. It brings time to question our history, as well as find out more about how our  history affects the lives we have today!

Linking with our ongoing theme of leadership and explorers.

On Monday we discovered to the story of Tenzing Norgay, the Sherpa who, with Edmund Hillary, was the first team to climb to the summit of Mount Everest in 1953. The amazing story of a New Zealander and a Nepalese, accompanied by a team of 300 put together by the British, was a feat of wonder. As a team, they achieved this success through determination, team work, passion, drive, hard work and the ability to problem solve and understand others. Yet even though the pair toured the world talking about their expedition,  it was Hillary who for many years, the media was interested in. To reach the top, wedging himself in a crack in the face, Hillary inched himself up what was thereafter known as the Hillary Step. Hillary threw down a rope, and Norgay followed. It was Hillary, who this challenging part of the mountains was named after.

What incredible friendship was shown to achieve success!

In our KS2 assembly on Wednesday with Miss Bowen, we learnt all about Paul Stephenson and the Bristol Bus Boycott as part of Black History Month. We discussed that whilst Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela were fighting for equality in other parts of the world, there were people fighting for exactly the same thing much closer to home. In 1963 in Bristol, Paul Stephenson helped to organise the Bristol Bus Boycott in response to the racism a friend experienced whilst applying for a job as a bus conductor – Stephenson along with many others peacefully protested and were eventually able to bring about change both within Bristol and in UK Law. Truly a man to be admired!

On Thursday in KS2 assembly, we absolutely LOVED learning about some of the unsung heroes behind operations like NASA and CAD (Computer Aided Design) – leading to improvements in design meaning aeroplanes in the late 1960’s could be designed on a computer rather than on paper! We learnt about three very special black ladies, focusing on Katherine Johnson, quite literally a ‘super computer’ behind NASA’s early space explorations, landings and orbits! Her mathematical ability was so IMPRESSIVE that astronauts like John Glen refused to fly without Katherine checking the statistics, numbers and vital figures – BY HAND and in HER HEAD! Without Johnson, Nasa wouldn’t have been able to succeed in its race to space – and racial equality at NASA saw dramatic change because of her actions! Braithwaite changed the game in the aeroplane industry completely – using CAD to save time, improve design and overall efficiency of production! And Lewis Hamilton continues to rule off the track – starting a new mission to recruit more black teachers across the UK! As always, we showed huge levels of respect towards those around us and left the assembly realising that it’s what’s inside that makes us superhuman.