It was a pleasure to welcome the wonderful Baroness Floella Benjamin into Lower school, albeit virtually via Zoom! She spoke to our Year 1 to 4 girls about her move from Trinidad to London as a young girl (encapsulated in her memoir 'Coming to England), and the discrimination and meanness she had to endure.
Lady Benjamin has had an incredible life, arriving from the West Indies as part of the so-called Windrush generation, who were encouraged to move to Britain to help rebuild the country after the Second World War. First published more than twenty years ago, the story of her challenges assimilating into a new way of life is as resonant now as it was then, and her memoir speaks to universal experiences of children coming to the UK.
She has now launched her new picture book edition of her memoir, illustrated by Diane Ewen, and we were so pleased to be granted exclusive access to this one-off live Zoom event alongside just a handful of other schools in the UK.
Lady Benjamin spoke with passion about the values of kindness and compassion, about being confident, and about cherishing oneself and one's family.
We will be receiving ten signed copies of ‘Coming to England’ to keep in school, which the girls will be able to enjoy and read at their leisure.
A true inspiration for our girls, and one of a number of activities we are undertaking to mark Black History Month.
