How did significant people from Africa contribute to 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 Central Newcastle but you may also wish to look at the KS 3 version of the walk around North 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 studying an aspect of history that is significant in the locality.

In the classroom, pupils can use the PPT and the StoryMap to revisit the people and buildings on the trail. For each person and building mentioned on the trail, the StoryMap contains a wealth of additional information and images. This will help stir pupils’ curiosity and a sense of pride in Newcastle’s rich and diverse past.

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