LETTERS
On this page you will find two letters we have written. These can be sent to your local MP and/or your school (primary and/or secondary). The letters call for a change in the curriculum and use data from the survey to further prove the inequality and woeful neglect of key subjects in our compulsory curriculum.
If you wish to send a letter to Gavin Williamson, our current Secretary of State for Education, please look at the resources page where we have linked the incredible work done by The Black Curriculum , who already have a letter ready to send.
At the bottom of the page, you can find (public) contact details for many of the aforementioned.
Follow up letter to your MP
Dear [Name of MP],
I’m writing to you today to express my concern over the lacklustre response from the government to a petition created 23 days ago titled “Teach Britain's colonial past as part of the UK's compulsory curriculum". The response appears to be a copy-and-paste from the government’s curriculum website detailing what is available already for teaching.
It seems to suggest that, as the topics are already offered, it is entirely the school’s responsibility to teach them. Additionally, it indicates that the Department of Education sees nothing wrong with a system that views teaching Britain’s colonial past as non-compulsory. This worries me. Furthermore, a survey (the Impact of Omission survey - the creators of whom started the petition) with over 55,000 responses proves that these topics are being woefully neglected in schools. (You can find the results of the survey here: impactofomission.squarespace.com) Whilst schools do have the option to teach them, it is also the government’s responsibility to help promote their teaching. The current curriculum was last properly reformed almost 8 years ago and seems quite outdated.
The petition has over a quarter of a million signatures, but this response seems to suggest it is not significant enough to be debated in Parliament. I am concerned that this issue will not even be brought up in any manner within the government. I am writing to you today to ask for your support on this issue and to push for a reform to the curriculum, which would include the teaching of BAME history and culture, to be discussed. You have the power to demand greater accountability from the government on important issues such as these. The world is finally listening to 'Black issues', and slowly coming to realise that they are everyone's issue - the time for change is now.
I sincerely hope you will help bring about this change.
Best wishes,
[YOUR FULL NAME]
[YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS]
[YOUR ADDRESS]
[YOUR PHONE NUMBER]
Letter to your school(s)
Dear ______
My name is ______ and I am an alumnus of your school, attending from the year____ to ____.
I am writing to you today regarding your curriculum. Currently, it is not compulsory in the U.K. for primary or secondary schools to teach colonisation, slavery, or any other atrocities that Britain played a significant role in throughout history—a role that is severely understated to this day.
Today, I ask you to reconsider this. It must be noted, I am not the only one who views this as something that must be changed. A petition on the petition.parliament.uk website entitled “Teach Britain's colonial past as part of the UK's compulsory curriculum” has well surpassed the necessary 100,000 signatures needed to qualify it for a debate in parliament. Over 100,000 citizens agree: The contribution that Black and BAME people played in this country’s history—from the mass enslavement of Africans that fuelled the Industrial Revolution, to the thousands of BAME soldiers who laid down their lives during WWI and II, as well as unquantifiable contributions to culture—cannot go unmentioned anymore.
And they are unmentioned, and there is proof.
On the 1st of June 2020, The Impact of Omission survey was released. By the next morning, 4,000 people had responded. By that evening, it was over 25,000, and it is continuing to grow. Here are some of the findings, taken from the responses of participants located in all regions of the U.K.:
(All this data is available on the website: https://impactofomission.squarespace.com)
86.2 % were educated on the Tudors in-depth as part of their curriculum, whereas only 9.3% learned about the role of slavery in British Industrialisation.
72.2% learned about The Great Fire of London, whereas only 7% learned about Britain’s colonisation of Africa
71.5% were taught about the Battle of Hastings, whereas only 5.2% learned about the role of BAME soldiers in WWI and II.
When asked: “The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils: "gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’". During discussions of the British Empire in school, to what extent was the role of slavery discussed?”
5.5% replied ‘to a significant extent’
33% replied ‘to a limited extent’
34.9% replied ‘It was mentioned briefly’
26.6% replied ‘not at all’
Obviously, there is a problem, and as an institution dedicated to education, I believe it is in the best interests of your students to consider a change to the curriculum. If this is not in your power, then please petition the people who do have the power. You are teaching the next Prime Ministers, the next MPs, the next policemen, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and people who will hopefully see this country into a new era of tolerance, respect, and anti-racism. But they need to be educated, and this is undeniably your responsibility.
According to Michael Gove, schools shouldn’t teach content fueled by “post-colonial guilt”. I would like to make it clear that I do not believe we study history to make anyone feel guilty, but rather to understand and acknowledge the foundations of our modern society. Students in Germany are required by law to learn in great detail about every aspect of the Holocaust, not so they feel guilt, but so they are aware of the horrors of the past, and can use this to inform the way they shape the future.
We must do the same. By educating the youngest generations on topics such as colonialism, we give them a fuller view of British history and the resources to build their own opinions. Not only this, but we must pay respect to those whose lives were taken, and help people understand that the events of the past not only mirror the events of the present, but built their foundations.
I therefore implore you to help build a better future, by choosing to teach these subjects. They are already on the suggested curriculum, all you need to do is make the change.
Thank you,
_________
Letter to your MP
NB - YOU MUST INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL, POSTAL ADDRESS, FULL NAME AND IF POSSIBLE TELEPHONE NUMBER IN LETTERS TO YOUR MP
Dear [NAME OF YOUR MP]
Impact of omission of Britain’s colonial past.
My name is [your full name]. As a constituent of [your borough], at [your postal address], I am writing to you in regards to the omission of large portions of Britain’s colonial past from the curriculum.
I would like to bring to your attention that currently, it is not compulsory in the U.K. for primary or secondary schools to teach colonisation, slavery, or any other atrocities that Britain played a significant role in throughout history—a role that is severely understated to this day.
Today, I ask you to reconsider this. It must be noted, I am not the only one who views this as something that must be changed. A petition on the petition.parliament.uk website entitled “Teach Britain's colonial past as part of the UK's compulsory curriculum” has well surpassed the necessary 100,000 signatures needed to qualify it for a debate in parliament. Over 100,000 citizens agree: The contribution that Black and BAME people played in this country’s history—from the mass enslavement of Africans that fuelled the Industrial Revolution, to the thousands of BAME soldiers who laid down their lives during WWI and II, as well as unquantifiable contributions to culture—cannot go unmentioned anymore.
And they are unmentioned, and there is proof.
On the 1st of June 2020, The Impact of Omission survey was released. By the next morning, 4,000 people had responded. By that evening, it was over 25,000, and it is continuing to grow. Here are some of the findings, taken from the responses of participants located in all regions of the U.K.:
(All this data is available on the website: https://impactofomission.squarespace.com)
86.2 % were educated on the Tudors in-depth as part of their curriculum, whereas only 9.3% learned about the role of slavery in British Industrialisation.
72.2% learned about The Great Fire of London, whereas only 7% learned about Britain’s colonisation of Africa
71.5% were taught about the Battle of Hastings, whereas only 5.2% learned about the role of BAME soldiers in WWI and II.
When asked: “The national curriculum for history aims to ensure that all pupils: "gain and deploy a historically grounded understanding of abstract terms such as ‘empire’, ‘civilisation’". During discussions of the British Empire in school, to what extent was the role of slavery discussed?”
5.5% replied ‘to a significant extent’
33% replied ‘to a limited extent’
34.9% replied ‘It was mentioned briefly’
26.6% replied ‘not at all’
Obviously, there is a problem, and as a representative of the people, I believe it is in the interest of your constituents that a change in the curriculum is made. I hope you are aware of the power the education system holds, and the responsibility you have to call for improvement. We are teaching the next Prime Ministers, the next MPs, the next policemen, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and people who will hopefully see this country into a new era of tolerance, respect, and anti-racism. But they need to be educated, and cannot be in full without your support.
According to Michael Gove, schools shouldn’t teach content fueled by “post-colonial guilt”. I would like to make it clear that I do not believe we study history to make anyone feel guilty, but rather to understand and acknowledge the foundations of our modern society. Students in Germany are required by law to learn in great detail about every aspect of the Holocaust, not so they feel guilt, but so they are aware of the horrors of the past, and can use this to inform the way they shape the future.
We must do the same. By educating the youngest generations on topics such as colonialism, we give them a fuller view of British history and the resources to build their own opinions. Not only this, but we must pay respect to those whose lives were taken, and help people understand that the events of the past not only mirror the events of the present, but built their foundations.
I therefore implore you to help build a better future, by choosing to raise this issue and support this cause. Although these topics are on the suggested curriculum, they are woefully neglected, it’s time to make a change.
Thank you,
[your full name]
[your postal address]
[your phone number]
[your email address]
HOW TO CONTACT…
… Your local MP
Use the online Directory of MPs
(Ensure you use the right title!)