Trailblazers : Stories and activities for Black History Month

Introduction
Black history should be recognised in all schools all year round, but (since1987)
October has officially been ‘Black History Month’ in Britain and events to mark this
take place across the country.
The three stories included here, tell of the lives of individuals who could be
considered to be role models. Although all three were ‘trailblazers’ in different ways,
they have often been overlooked by the people responsible for writing the history
books.
Content
This small resource includes:
1. Simplified stories about three Black Britons: Pablo Fanque, Walter Tull and
Noor Inayat Khan
2. A list of possible activities linked to each story, suitable for adaptation for use
with pupils in Key Stages 1, 2, 3 and 4
3. Detailed activity plans for KS 2, 3, 4 linked to the story ‘The Courage of
Walter Tull’ (both story and activity plans are extracts from a new teaching
resource ‘A Rainbow Field of Dreams’, courtesy of and copyright acidsnow)
4. A list of useful websites
Conclusion
It is hoped that these stories will encourage pupils to become involved in research to
discover more about other great Black Britons and to ‘pass on’ in turn their stories to
others, so that the history books of the future, reflect more accurately the variety of
British people and their experiences; allowing us to learn from the past. As Otto
Frank said:
‘To have future we need to know about the past.’