Teacher’s notes
Windrush

Links to the National Curriculum for Key Stage 3 History

Students will gain historical perspective by placing their growing knowledge into different contexts, understanding the connections between national and international history; between cultural, economic, and political history.

This lesson would easily fit into schemes of learning on the following topics:

● Political power, industry and empire.

● The modern History of Britain and the contribution that citizens of the British Empire made to its cultural and economic development

● Britain’s Transatlantic Slave Trade: its effects and legacy

● The lesson is also relevant to Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural SMSC development

This lesson follows the enquiry question:
The structure outlines the historical context the Windrush generation was born into, before exploring the circumstances that brought them to settle in the UK. The lesson presents a range of sources which illuminate the experiences of the Windrush generation and provides contextual information for further reading. Students have a chance to listen to the poetry of Lawrence Hoo and apply their historical reasoning to answer the task questions.

Poem

Ships over Troubled Waters

I would like to tell you a story of how a journey was taken
By many people who were invited but were then forsaken

Please come and help! All are welcome! Jobs galore”
As long as you are prepared to be part of our underclass and poor

No No No No No – this isn’t quite true
And if it was, do you think they’d tell you?

They invited you to come here to live and help rebuild their country
But didn’t want you to live near or share in any new found prosperity

Rooms to rent but there are conditions applied
No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs are allowed inside

Can you imagine the confusion so many must have felt?
Answered a call of distress and were prepared to help

The warm reception they were offered was never received
It was obvious form the beginning that they had been deceived

Hostile receptions were the norm in that day
No rooms to rent even though you’re able to pay

The inner city of Bristol suffered much damage during the war
And this became home to the city’s underclass and poor

Many of the properties were derelict the rents were high
With choices few and far between, who could afford to ask why?

New arrivals from the Caribbean settled in and this created a new community
That was built on the foundations of cultural interests, protection and unity

St Paul’s was the area that many would call home
It sits at the centre of Bristol’s inner city zone

From this centre people would see each other on a regular basis
Allowing people to go from being strangers to regular faces

As the community grew problems were still evident
Number one being racism that was still prevalent

Exclusion was often the order of the day
When it came to getting a job or a place to stay

So many opportunities were offered but failed to materialise
So many people feeling rejected after being sold a pack of lies

But these obstacles weren’t going to keep people held back
Especially as the main reason was being classed as black

Based on skill, determination, strength and willing
People would prove their worth and start winning

Winning the battle to create a life and home in a new country
Instead of accepting the life of the disempowered ethnic minority

On any journey of discovery you have great pioneers
Who put all on the line for the betterment of their peers

For some of them I would like to list
So we can remember who did assist

Assist in enabling people to have a choice
Assist in enabling people to have a voice

They are true pioneers who faced many obstacles and broke new ground
For all that they did they deserve to be remembered and we should all feel proud

Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela are widely known
But what about the champions of Bristol, our own home grown

Roy Hackett
Delores Campbell
Owen Henry
May Tanner
Jim Williams
Olive Osborne
Barbara Dettering
Guy Reid Bailey
Princess Campbell
And Carmen Beckford to name just a few
Of the pioneers who came to England

We salute you.

Lawrence Hoo

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