Black Childrens Achievement Programme
BCAP Updates 2023
During the summer term, the children from years 5 and 6 who are part of our Black Children’s Achievement Programme had an opportunity to participate in a series of African Caribbean dance and history workshops they were led by visiting artists Pauline and Toke who are qualified African Caribbean dance teachers.
The children studied the different styles of dance forms that originated from Caribbean and African such as Ska and Calypso.
They learnt about the importance of dance in Africa and the way in which traditions and history are communicated through dance.
At the end of the sessions, the children choreographed their very own African Caribbean dance and incorporated the different styles they learnt throughout the weeks.
Please stroll through our gallery to see the fun that we had with our learning.
BCAP Pupil Voice 2019
The children had an opportunity to share their views on moving into year 5 and 6 through the BCAP Pupil Voice session. The children felt supported by their teachers and other adults when they faced challenges with their school work. They overcame their fears by the welcoming environment that was created. They have thoroughly enjoyed the enrichment activities that have been provided in this term.
One of the projects next year will focus on the Retired Caribbean Nurses of Bedford. They will interview the nurses and use the information to develop a script for their end of year performance. This will include how the nurse built new friendships and communities in the UK. Recruitment after WW2, explore the advertisements and recruitment drives in the UK and across the Caribbean. Transition and settlement and their experiences of leaving their homes, family and the sacrifice of leaving their own children behind.
During the session the children explored the life of Mary Seacole who as a Jamaican born woman who became famous for her contribution during the Crimean War where she opened a hotel to provide food and supplies to soldiers. She also nursed the wounded British soldiers.
Black Children’s Achievement Programme
History of Rap and Hip-Hop July 2019….
Did you know?
Hip hop as both a musical genre and a culture was formed during the 1970s when block parties became increasingly popular in New York City, particularly among African-American and Latino American youth residing in the Bronx.
Femi Lewis is a writer of history and a literature teacher who specializes in African-American history. DJ Kool Herc is credited with throwing the first hip hop party in 1973 in the Bronx. It consists of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted. It developed as part of hip hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, break dancing, and graffiti writing.
Over the last 4 weeks the children of years 5 and 6 have been learning about the history of Hop-Hip and Rap through the pupil voice and their production workshops.
They have worked with artist Toke Lettmen who is an African Caribbean dancer, choreographer and Artist Director and Rob Bradley who is an international poetic rapper, storyteller and songwriter. He has performed around the world, from clubs in New York to festivals throughout Europe.
The children gave an outstanding performance to their friends and family members, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Â
BCAP Parents Meeting
Over the last few weeks we have been meeting with some of our Year 6 BCAP parents. Sarah from EqualiTeach led the sessions and shared the work that she carries out with our pupils in Key Stage 2. We discussed how to talk to young people about race equality and racism. Â
The workshops provided parents and carers with the opportunity to:
Mr Muchupuki presented on ways to support children with these issues and the importance of educating their children about their families’ culture, traditions and history. He also spoke about exploring other history to widen the children’s knowledge of the world they live in.
All parents spoke freely about their view on these matters and participated in several activities which were a lot of fun! Â
The school purchased several editions of books about famous people from the past and present. This is a new book loan scheme for parents to borrow books and DVDs to share with their children at home. If you are interested in looking at some of the books on offer please do not hesitate to contact me.
The meetings were a great success and we would like to thank all of our parents who attended.
Please view our gallery of photographs from the meetings.
