TMS is very excited to be fully embracing Black History Month this October and as much as we can do at school, it would be fantastic for you to continue the conversations at home. We know that for many, many year, Black History has not been celebrated through the historical bias nature of the legacy of the education system and the Government, reflecting the equalities of society for centuries.

TMS is joining the campaign to fight against discrimination and to challenge racist beliefs. We believe that education is key and we strive to find out more about the REAL history of our country, as well as learning about significant people from around the world.

We are also starting to work with Black Voices Cornwall to ensure that all staff are fully trained in diversity and understanding race, and they will be supporting us by having workshops with the children. Our aim is to then set up a group with families from a diverse numbers of countries, representing a range of cultures and religions, to make sure that all our children know that their country, culture and religion is celebrated and that everyone fully feels like they belong. If you are interested in early involvement in this project, please let Mrs Ewart or Ms Teagle know!

Our school is probably the most diverse school in Cornwall, and this is something we are celebrating. With over 20 different languages named across the school, and children coming to Cornwall from countries such as Nigeria, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, India, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Philippines we consider ourselves really lucky that our children have the first hand experience to learn about the world we live in.

Although the national focus is on Black and Caribbean culture and history as ‘Black History’, we will continue to work on celebrating all cultures as the year goes on.

Please take this opportunity to learn more as a family!

Why Black History?

We have already made a start to this, by learning about the music of our musicians of the month: Nina Simone, Aretha Franklin Bob Marley and now Tracy Chapman. These musicians were relentless in using music to campaign for equality.

And we keep returning to Ms Teagle’s hero Nelson Mandela, the first Black leader of South Africa, we know the story well of Rosa Parks and also with the older children, starting to learn about the tragic death of Stephen Lawrence.

These are the faces are know about … but how many of these faces do you recognise?

Katherine Johnson

Harriet Tubman

John Blanke

Ade Adepitan

Joseph Imedy

Ignatious Sancho