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In recognition of Black History Month, our History Department held a school-wide competition in October, inviting students across Cadogan House and the Senior School to explore and express pivotal themes of Black history, culture, and community leadership.
The standard of entries was exceptionally high, showcasing impressive research, artistic talent, and creative expression. From detailed murals depicting local togetherness to inspiring video performances and biographies of change-makers, our students demonstrated remarkable engagement with the project.
Competition Winners
We are proud to celebrate four standout submissions across Cadogan House and Senior School:
Community Mural – By Zara
The threads are represented by West African print fabric to represent the invisible bonds of culture, generation and family. My artwork represents how tradition is woven into daily life and passed down to younger generations. My central figure represents a mother and her children viewed from behind. I am trying to signify a journey into the future but grounded firmly in history. The clothesline represents the shared everyday life with diverse patterns that serve the memories of the ancestors. The fabric is more than material, it is history, memory, culture and the patterns representing tribes. Through the focus of cloth heritage remains unbreakable and beautifully patterned bond.
- ZARA
Community Mural – By Elisa
The 'Black History: The Thread That Bind Us' poster shows how our history connects everything we love today! It is like a giant colourful tapestry made of important strings: voting, music, food, literature and sports. Voting shows how our ancestors fought hard for voices to be heard. Music is the heartbeat of the poster. Food, like delicious soul food that brings families together. Finally, literature, amazing stories that inspire us today. All of these pieces, woven together. Black history isn't just in the past, it is a living thread that holds the community together!
- ELISA
Black Community Leader: Len Johnson by Zamire
Zamire’s project highlights the powerful life and political legacy of Len Johnson, a Black British boxer from Manchester who won 95 of his 134 fights and defeated major champions, yet was barred from fighting for official British titles due to boxing’s racist “colour bar.” Zamire emphasises how Johnson carried his fight outside the ring as an activist – notably leading a 200-person protest in 1953 that successfully overturned a Manchester pub’s ban on serving Black customers.
“My Grandma, My Inspiration” by Winter
Winter performed a moving poem tracing her grandmother’s journey from Clarendon, Jamaica to becoming a UK district nurse and care home founder.
This poem is about my grandma. She grew up in Silent Hill in Clarendon, Jamaica. She lived on a farm and had a cow called Betsy. Before she was my grandma, she was a little girl like me. At just 16, she came to England and became a district nurse, helping people who needed care. One lady saw how hard she worked. She saw how kind she was too. She believed that my grandma could do something wonderful, and grandma did. She opened her own care home, a place to help people feel safe and cared for. She worked hard, she dreamed big, and she was glamorous too. She would sing Bob Marley to me, "Don't worry about a thing". And she always used to say, if you can see it in your mind, you can have it in your life. From a little girl in a village in Jamaica, to a woman with a care home of her very own. That was my grandma. She's done a great thing because she believed she could, and so will I. She was blessed and loved. The end.
- WINTER
A note of Thanks
Thank you to all students who participated, to the History Department for organising the competition, and to our staff for their support in highlighting these exceptional student contributions. Congratulations to Zara, Elisa, Zamire, and Winter!