Teaching Mary Seacole at KS1

In the past we have taught Florence and Mary Seacole together with perhaps too little emphasis on Mary. To restore the balance and to focus more on diversity, we have created a separate topic on teaching Mary Seacole, with her own set of key enquiry questions. The study culminates in a comparison of who better deserves a statue outside St.Thomas Hospital.

As well as dignifying the role of black females in the past, and taking them out of the shadows of history, this topic offers excellent opportunities to explore the changing attitudes to race, then and now.

Central to the topic is a focus on interpretations. Even young children should be able to enter the debate about Mary’s significance. How should we best remember her?