Last Friday marked the beginning of Black History Month 2021. This year, one of our main focuses at OHS is on the struggle to end Apartheid in South Africa and our fantastic History Department has launched a month-long series of events to educate, inform and engage students.
The month was kicked off with a keynote assembly on the system of Apartheid earlier this week. To accompany the event, a range of posters that focus on key individuals in the struggle to end Apartheid will be displayed across the school. Amongst those being honoured in these posters are Lillian Ngoyi, Desmond Tutu, Robert Sobukwe, Albertine Sisulu and, of course, Nelson Mandela. It is hoped that these posters will provoke curiosity and encourage further research amongst our students. There will opportunities to pursue this research in PSHCE lessons in October and this will be supported with material produced by the History Department.
A feature of Black History Month in recent years at OHS has been a film night that picks up on the key focus of the celebrations. This year students in years 9, 10 and 11 will be treated to a screening of Invictus which focuses on the enormous challenges that Nelson Mandela faced on becoming President of a divided and embittered South Africa in 1994.
Our student diversity team is also working on some of their own initiatives to mark Black History Month – more to follow on that soon!