With it being Black History Month, Telesgop are proud to be publishing Our Welsh History – a website which celebrates the rich and diverse history of Wales.
This comprehenseive website, which has sections for pupils aged 3-16 years old, looks at the contribution of Black, Asian, and Ethnic Minorities to the history of Wales. As well as information about notable people, places and incidents, it also contains additional resources including stories, monologues, a cartoon strip, newspaper articles, audio clips and videos.
The resource contains information about people from North and South Wales, women and men, from a range of different backgrounds and professions. It includes well known names like Betty Campbell and Colin Jackson, as well as lesser know characters such as the gardener John Ystumllyn, the nurse Vernester Cyril and Lenn Lawrence the builder. It also has contributions from people who are shaping the history of Wales today like Dom James, Mel Owen, Richard Parks and Hanan Issa. Buildings such as Penrhyn Castle and Merthyr Synagogue are included as well as incidents such as the 1919 riots.
The website was designed specifically for Cwricwlwm Cymru working closely with teachers, educational specialists and members of the Black, Asian and Ethnic Minority communities. It contains a wealth of resources to support the teaching of the new curriculum.
“It’s been a priveledge and an eye opener for me to work on this project,” said Aled Richards, Head of Education for Telesgop. “I’ve met so many inspirational people and have learnt so much about the contribution of Black, Asian and Ethnic Minorities to the history of Wales – people which I’d had no idea about before!
The new curriculum gives us the opportunity to give the history of Wales its rightful place in our schools and it’s important for us to look at that history in its entirety – not only through the lens of white people. It’s a cause of celebration that our schools are multi-cultural and it’s essential that our educational resources reflect this diversity and that our pupils can relate to the people that are presented to them.
I hope that this resource will inspire teachers to teach the new curriculum, lifting the lid on the hidden history of Wales and that it will be another step in the journey of creating an anti-racist Wales.
The project was funded by the Welsh Government and will be hosted on the `Hwb` educational website.
For more information contact: aled.richards@telesgop.cymru