London Mayor calls for a more diverse National Curriculum

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, today called on the Government to ensure the National Curriculum better reflects the diversity of the country as he announced plans to give young Londoners a more complete perspective on the capital’s Black history.

Coinciding with the start of Black History Month, the Mayor has written to the Education Secretary Gavin Williamson to call for changes to the National Curriculum to ensure it accurately reflects the diverse history of our country.

The Mayor believes every teacher should feel supported to facilitate open and honest conversations about all aspects of history and race, and that exam boards should include diverse authors, artists and musicians within their syllabuses.

Today Sadiq announces an innovative new partnership between City Hall and social enterprise The Black Curriculum aimed at enriching and diversifying elements of the London Curriculum, which has served more than 950 primary and secondary schools across the capital.

The London Curriculum takes inspiration from the capital to provide free art, English, geography, history, music, PE and STEM resources for teachers to use within and beyond the classroom.

Through the new partnership, The Black Curriculum will help refresh the London Curriculum’s history resources to ensure their content reflects and celebrates London’s rich diversity both historically and in the present day. The Black Curriculum addresses the lack of emphasis placed on Black British history in education with the aim of raising attainment amongst all pupils, providing a sense of identity and belonging, together with improving social cohesion between all communities.

The Mayor is a firm supporter of improving the curriculum in order to provide young people with a deeper, more nuanced understanding of history, including frank reflections on colonialism and its enduring legacy.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Despite huge progress being made in my lifetime, Black Londoners continue to face significant barriers to success. Our pupils come from diverse backgrounds yet are too often presented with a curriculum offering one-dimensional perspectives on Black History, meaning the historic and institutional reasons for these inequalities - and their enduring impact - are still not widely understood.

“The coronavirus pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement have thrown structural injustice and persistent inequality into stark relief, and affirmed the need for meaningful action across all of our society.

“That’s why I am proud to be working with The Black Curriculum, further embedding equality and diversity into the fabric of the London Curriculum, and why I am calling on the Government to ensure schools are given the tools and support they need to empower a new generation of Londoners to strive towards a fairer, more equitable city.”

Lavinya Stewart, CEO, The Black Curriculum said: “The Black Curriculum is very proud to be working with the Mayor of London’s office to refresh the London Curriculum resources. We believe it is a crucial time for the UK and London especially to engage with Black British history and fuller narratives that uncover the true diversity of our society. We hope that through this partnership, these resources will be accessible and support a wide array of audiences to become more knowledgeable citizens.”

More information about the London curriculum can be found here - www.london.gov.uk/curriculum