How did people from Africa contribute to and enrich Newcastle and the North East?
This enquiry question uses a Heritage Trail on African Lives in Newcastle. It has been designed in collaboration with African Lives in Northern England to stir curiosity and a sense of pride in Newcastle’s rich and diverse past. Pupils can be led physically around the trail by their teacher using the script and PPT images provided, or virtually using our interactive StoryMap. This trail focuses on North Newcastle but you may also wish to look at the KS 2 version of the walk around Central Newcastle, to find different people at different locations within the city.
Please ensure you read the introduction to the StoryMap before embarking on this trail.
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Teaching idea
By following this Heritage Trail around central Newcastle we aim to help pupils understand that Africans, as with many other diverse groups, not only lived, visited and contributed to Newcastle but that their lives are embedded in the very fabric of it. This relates to the curriculum requirement of testing how far sites in your locality reflect aspects of national history.
In the classroom, pupils can use the PPT and the StoryMap to revisit the people and buildings on the trail. For each person and place mentioned on the trail the StoryMap contains a wealth of additional information and images. This will help pupils gain an improved understanding of enslavement, discrimination and racism, whilst exploring the ways they can, and have, been challenged throughout history.
Learning aims and outcomes
- To know more about the built environment and how it relates to the heritage and story of a place
- To learn about the contribution people of African descent have made to the North-East and begin to build appreciation of the diversity of the region
- To raise awareness of some of the stories of individuals who came from Africa and the impact they had on the North-East and our heritage
- To highlight the way in which people from African descent have influenced significant historical events and are linked to our local buildings in Newcastle upon Tyne
- To gain an improved understanding of enslavement, discrimination and racism, whilst exploring the ways they can, and have, been challenged throughout history
Prior knowledge
- No prior knowledge is required
Extended learning and useful links
Teaching Activity: How did significant people from Africa contribute to Newcastle and the North East?
Teaching Activity: African Lives in Northern England: The stories of people of African descent who have lived and are living in Northern England
Further resources on African Lives in the North East and Cumbria available on the website of African Lives in Northern England Project
Teaching Activity: Stories in Stone - How do buildings adapt and change over time to reflect our rich and diverse heritage?
