9th August 2019

An Invitation to Birmingham Primary School Teachers

To welcome the arrival of the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Sampad in partnership with the Library of Birmingham are inviting primary schools to learn about Commonwealth Migration through an exciting new opportunity launching in 2021.

Project name:
From City of Empire to City of Diversity: A Visual Journey

The project will use passport photographs, wedding photographs, and family portraits from the Dyche Collection in Birmingham Archives to learn about families who moved to Birmingham after WW2. These photographs, captured by Ernest Dyche’s photography studio in Balsall Heath, were sent to relatives in the Commonwealth to showcase families’ new lives in Birmingham, which were often staged through the use of props and clothes to give many messages to loved ones. By exploring these we can learn about the values, hopes and expectations of these individuals and why they moved to Birmingham during this time.

To share these stories we would like to OFFER PRIMARY SCHOOLS FREE RESOURCES during the academic year 2021-2022.

  • A loanable exhibition with period appropriate prop kits to recreate some of the stories from the collection (2 weeks to 1 month loan)
  • Downloadable assembly plans/resources with which teachers can work with students
  • Free activities and lesson ideas

The resources will encourage teamwork, critical thinking and creative arts, and will be perfect for setting up topic-based assemblies, developing links between local families and schools, and celebrating key events such as Black History Month and the Commonwealth Games 2022.

If you would like to involve your school please go here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VW9F2T2  to complete a five minute registration form or email sabra@sampad.org.uk for more information. Please note the resources will be provided on a first come, first served basis, and is subject to us receiving funding (which we will confirm before Christmas 2019).

and support from The Cole Charitable Trust

Made possible thanks to #NationalLottery players!