Black and British – KQ5 – How did the arrival of the Empire Windrush change the way Black People were treated in Britain?

Learning objectives

• Pupils understand why people emigrated to Britain from the Caribbean;
• they grasp the range of differing reactions immigrants experienced;
• they can make generalisations based on specific evidence.

Learning sequence

Step 1

Using slide 2-5 on the PowerPoint, introduce pupils to the Empire Windrush, explaining that this represented a landmark event not only in terms of post-war immigration but also has become an iconic event in race relations history.

Step 2 – market place

To give pupils a detailed feel for what the new Black immigrants experienced in the first 10 post-Windrush years set up a role play scenario.

It is the 10-year reunion for those who came to Britain in the late 40s. How has everyone fared? How similar has their experience been? In order to capture the essence of the experience, pupils complete an activity known as market place. Simply put, they have to imagine they are