Written For Children - The Story of The Windrush
By Kandace Chimbiri
(Pictures used with Permission from Scholastic)
Combining historical fact with voices from the Windrush Generation, this book sensitively tells the story and shows how this was an important moment for modern Black Britain.
This book is recommended for children aged 7+ . It would make an excellent book for guided reading sessions and also as a tool for historical research for children in the Primary Years.
Key Features:
- Clear, engaging narrative that confident readers who enjoy facts will love
- Easy-to-read text improves children’s knowledge of our world.
- Beautifully illustrated throughout with a range of photos, maps and artwork to aid understanding and heighten interest in the topic.
- Helpful glossary to build vocabulary.
Here’s how you can use The Story of the Windrush within the National Curriculum (UK)
Year 2
• Y2 English: introduction to non-fiction books
• KS1 History: events beyond living memory that are significant nationally or globally; commemorated through anniversaries (i.e. Windrush Day)
Years 3 & 4:
• KS2 History: Extended chronological study (d. a significant turning point in British history)
Years 5 & 6:
• KS2 History: Extended chronological study (d. a significant turning point in British history)
There are many others ways that this book can be used.
Bermudian Research on the Windrush Generation
The late journalist Ira Philip documented eight Bermudians who boarded the Empire Windrush in 1948 and made their way on board as stowaways. Ira Philip was an exceptional writer, broadcaster and inspiration.
"I am thankful for his ability and courage to write and publish the history of our people; not for me, but for those generations yet unborn who will, through his work, know who and whose they are."
Lt/Col. David Burch
Bermudian History Matters
Ira Philip was a Bermudian writer, broadcaster and campaigner. His work allows us to piece together the fabric of the past. A fabric that all too often has been left out of the overall tapestry. leaving an incomplete picture of the past can never help a people understand their collective story.
Ira Philip, MBE, JP. (16 December 1925 – 9 April 2018)
Passengers Leaving The Empire Windrush, England 1948
Source: National Archives England
Map Showing the route of the Empire Windrush on her way to England.
(Passenger Numbers from the National Archives UK.)
The newspaper advert displays the cost of a passage from Jamaica to the UK. The cost appears quite reasonable, but it was actually very costly. many of the Windrush passengers wanted a better future. Jamaica was still recovering from the devastating 1944 Atlantic hurricane season. A major August hurricane struck near Kingston, Jamaica, causing severe damage as it crossed the island to Montego Bay. A large and potent hurricane, known as the Great Atlantic hurricane, attained Category 4—possibly even Category 5. The aftermath of this hurricane brought severe hardship. Bermuda's Windrush generation also wanted to seek a better life and pursue work and in some cases training. Leaving home was both exciting and also very challenging.
The Front Page of the London Evening Standard (1948)
The Front Cover of the London Evening Standard. The Paper welcomed the sons and daughters from the 'Empire,' but this welcome did not permeate across all of society. Even before the Windrush had left Jamaica, the prime minister, Clement Attlee, had examined the possibility of preventing its embarkation or diverting the ship and the migrants on board to East Africa. After the vessel had arrived at Tilbury, the colonial secretary, Arthur Creech Jones, is said to have reassured his cabinet colleagues that, although “these people have British passports and must be allowed to land there’s nothing to worry about because they won’t last one winter in England” (detailed in Randall Hansen’s book Citizenship and Immigration in Post-War Britain).
The 1948 National Act is a powerful window into the smog of institutional racism that consumed Britain in so many ways. Read More
Racism In Postwar Britain
Most people would find such overt racism deeply shocking today. While this overt racism is not tolerated, there are other aspects to this story that remain. This is just one chapter in a book of many.
Photo from the National Archives (UK)
Teaching About Migration
This document has a large number of reproductions of source material. Read More
The British Council pack contains ideas for discussion around migration. It focuses on the Windrush migration in 1948, celebrating the contribution the Caribbean migrants have made to the prosperity of Britain. Migration Pack - Read more.
Hamilton Bermuda1948
Many of the other passengers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Barbados had also served in the RAF and were old friends. They slept in hammocks and on bunks on a lower deck, and did not much meet the other passengers. The ship stopped for a few days in Bermuda, where he encountered segregation for the first time.
“That was the first time I saw a sign saying ‘no blacks’. In Jamaica nobody bothered, everybody mixed. But when we got to Bermuda we were trying to have a picnic. A man came to tell us you can’t sit there in that park. We told him what to do with himself,” Alford Gardner.
Alford Gardner served as an RAF as a ground engineer during the war.
HMS Sheffield Circa 1948
Windrush Lesson Activities
- The Windrush Game activity looking at the experiences of Windrush migrants over 40 years
- recording table for students to note down experiences of character in Windrush game
- Writing frame to accompany game helping students to write a letter about their experiences
- Lyrics to 'London is the place for me' by Lord Kitchener and source questions
- Lesson plan for Windrush Game activities
- A lesson about the contributions that Black and Asian people have made to Britain
- A thinking skills citizenship activity using the TASC Wheel, which asks students to create a campaign to support 'Windrush Day', a national holiday to celebrate multicultural Britain
Using the task Wheel for a Windrush Project.
TASC stands for ‘Thinking Actively in a Social Context’. This is an approach which can be used when planning, to create experiences that will challenge and engage students – making links with social learning theories such as Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development.
See an example of a Tasc wheel project using the theme of Windrush. Read more