BHM ROUND UP; Celebrating Jax’s Jukebox!

It’s been another truly magnificent year for us as we come to the end of an intensely busy and fun packed, as well as hugely thought provoking, period of assemblies and workshops in celebration of Black History Month 2018!

From jumping aboard the Empire Windrush, to visiting the continent of Africa with our friend Anansi, exploring influential black heroes, and delving into the musical heritage of young Jax and his family, we have delivered over 60 workshops and assemblies over an incredible 6 weeks. So what’s it all about?!

Well October marks a period when we can all take the time out to appreciate what black people before us fought so tirelessly for; freedom, equality, and civil rights. It is a time of rejoicing, celebrating and thanking those who have given so much of their lives in the hope that, in future, we can all live a peaceful coexistence.

And here at Bigfoot, we have developed a HUGE range of inspiring programmes to help our young people learn about the struggles and triumphs of our black ancestors. Our enthusiastic Bigfooters have enabled school children to dance, sing, story tell and work together using creative games and exercises to learn about Black History in an engaging and informative way. And our newest music inspired programme ‘Jax’s Jukebok’ has stormed onto the scene this year triumphing in our feedback stakes and showing us all that, even twelve years on, when it comes to black history month, no-one does it better than Bigfoot:

From the teachers:

Thank you so much; what an AMAZING day!  Dani from Bigfoot arts education really wowed us.  The All Aboard the Empire Windrush assembly and workshop was creative, interactive, energetic, funny, informative and just AMAZING!  This is how you incorporate creative approach to learning.  I can’t wait to book again! (Sara Lannaman-Williams, Preston Manor School)

Your Black History Month assembly was an inspirational start to the school day. As soon as the children entered the hall, they knew they were in for a treat; another fabulous assembly! (Robin Field, New Hall Primary School

This was a fantastic fun programme which exceeded our expectations. The children are now excited and enthusiastic about Black history! All of the children and adults were involved, and everyone left with a better understanding of BHM and the musical elements of Black history. (Atalanta Copeman- Papas, Heavers Farm and Selsdon Primary Schools)

The assembly was ‘outstanding’; it had all the children and staff up dancing and (they) learnt a lot whilst exploring quite a difficult topic. (Lorren, Riversdale Primary School)

I just wanted to let you know that we have loved all of the workshops and assemblies that you have provided this week.  In particular, Years 1 and 2 really loved Dani and the Empire Windrush workshops, and Adrian made quite an impact yesterday with Jax’s Jukebox.  I had countless comments from children and parents about how much their children enjoyed the assembly and workshops. (Nikki Connelly, Gordonbrock Primary School)

From the children:

This morning’s assembly was absolutely INCREDIBLE! It took my breath away! First, it started with some music in the background and our Bigfooter was doing some funny dance moves while the other classes came in. It was HILARIOUS!!! Then, once everyone was in the hall, the wonderful assembly started…

Amazing! That’s how the assembly went! It was perfect! We were told us “That when words fail, music speaks,” and I understood that very well. It was really fun. Thank you.

Adrian sang “Don’t worry” by Bob Marley. Everyone joined in whilst he sang and played the guitar. Adrian said that everyone in the world is connected by music.

He talked to us about Run DMC (a hip hop group), Robert Johnson (a blues musician), Lord Kitchener (calypso) and Ella Fitzgerald (a jazz musician) and at the end I talked to him about which musicians I like. I would rate this assembly a 10/10 because it was the bestest assembly I have ever seen!

We learnt about how and why music is so important to us. It was so inspirational! He talked about some of the many black musicians he loved, including Ella Fitzgerald, Run DMC, Robert Johnson and Lord Kitchener. It was magical and I learnt that music isn’t just for certain people, it’s for everyone!