History in the making

Nottingham Girls’ High School is marking Black History month with a whole-school competition that celebrates inspiring black people

Nottingham Girls’ High School is marking Black History Month with a series of whole-school, cross-curricular celebrations.  As part of its ongoing commitment to educating students and staff about the ongoing struggle for equality, NGHS is running a number of themed activities and events throughout October with the aim of continuing an open conversation around diversity, inclusion and meaningful change all year round.

“It’s going to be amazing to see everyone sharing their research and presentations.”

The highlight of the planned events is Discovered Figures, an exciting competition open to girls in all year groups from Nursery to Sixth Form. The aim is for students to learn about and celebrate Black figures from history and to use their creative and academic talents to bring their research to life.

Each class has been allocated a person to research from an illustrious list that includes well known figures such as Maya Angelou and Nelson Mandela, to those perhaps less well known such as Marcus Garvey, Jesse Owens and Yvonne Cagle. Students are then challenged to produce a presentation about their chosen figure during the month of October. They  can use any format at their disposal such as power point presentations, artwork, videos, poetry and a presentation on their findings will be submitted after the half-term break. A judging panel that includes NGHS staff, GDST colleagues and the school Diversity Prefects have the unenviable task of selecting an overall winner based on creativity, research quality and inspirational impact.

The winning presentation will have a portrait of their “discovered figure” created and displayed for the school community in an exhibition space, by published children’s illustrator and Assistant Head of Teaching and Learning, James Brown.

Julie Keller, Head of Nottingham Girls’ High School, said:

“I’m incredibly excited about our whole school Discovered Figures competition. To have every one of our pupils, from age three to 18, researching such an inspiring collection of Black people, fills me with pride. It’s so important to celebrate role models from all backgrounds, especially those who are less well known. It’s personal stories such as these that help us all learn together. I just know the girls’ presentations are going to packed full of academic rigour, fun and inspiration. I can’t wait to see them all. ”

Rocky, a Diversity Prefect at NGHS, said:

“The Discovered Figures competition is the first time our whole school has worked together on a competition like this. It’s going to be amazing to see everyone sharing their research and presentations. It will give everyone the chance to learn something new, to be inspired by some fascinating people who have achieved great success and to come together to celebrate Black excellence for Black History Month.”