Black History Month celebrations

The children at Longdon have been celebrating Black History Month since the start of October, learning about the achievements of the black community throughout history and the impact their crucial, but sometimes forgotten, work has had on society.

Following a Celebration Assembly where the children and staff looked at the influences the late Benjamin Zephaniah, a Birmingham born poet, had on literacy and raising awareness of dyslexia, all the children were challenged to produce a self-portrait in the style of Jean-Michel Basquiat, an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the Neo-expressionism movement.

The bright colours capture the artist's feelings in the moment and contrasts with the black self-portrait.