New
New
Year 6

The Windrush generation

I can describe some of the experiences of the Windrush Generation.

New
New
Year 6

The Windrush generation

I can describe some of the experiences of the Windrush Generation.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Britain needed workers to help with the nation's reconstruction and to work in the NHS; many came from the Caribbean.
  2. The first of these arrived at Tilbury Docks on the 22 June 1948 after a long journey on the SS Empire Windrush.
  3. Some British people were very unwelcoming and many of these arrivals faced discrimination in housing and employment.
  4. In 1958, riots broke out in Notting Hill that were motivated by growing racial tension.
  5. Hundreds of white people attacked the homes of people from the Caribbean and the violence lasted two weeks.

Keywords

  • Caribbean - the Caribbean is a region of sea and islands off the coast of North, Central and South America

  • Windrush Generation - the Caribbean migrants that travelled to Britain in the years after the Second World War are known as the Windrush Generation

  • Discrimination - discrimination means treating someone unfairly because of things such as age, skin colour, or religious beliefs

  • Riot - when lots of people are violent and disturb the peace it is known as a riot

Common misconception

People from the Caribbean travelled to Britain without being invited.

These people were invited to become British citizens by the government in 1948 to help the country recover and lots had contributed in the armed forces during the war too.

Use maps or an atlas to get pupils to locate the countries and places mentioned in this lesson and improve geographical knowledge.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of peer pressure or bullying
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision recommended

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Before 1939, lots of working-class children got a disease called...
Correct Answer: rickets, Rickets
Q2.
Some __________ could pay part of their wages as National Insurance to help them see a doctor if they needed it.
Correct answer: men
women
men and women
Q3.
The Beveridge Report was published in...
Correct Answer: 1942, nineteen forty two
Q4.
Which government set up a system of benefits known as the welfare state?
Conservative
Liberal
Correct answer: Labour
Q5.
The National Health Service was set up in...
Correct Answer: 1948, nineteen forty eight
Q6.
Which disease was vaccinated against, for free, in the 1950s?
rickets
Correct answer: polio
influenza
pneumonia

6 Questions

Q1.
To rebuild Britain after WWII, the country needed lots more...
Correct Answer: workers, Workers
Q2.
The Nationality Act of 1948 gave...
Correct answer: people who lived in the British Empire the right to live and work in Britain.
people who had been born in Britain greater rights than those who had not.
people who lived abroad the right to live and work in Britain.
Q3.
The passenger ship that brought many Caribbean people to Britain in 1948 was called the Empire...
Correct Answer: Windrush, windrush, wind rush, Wind Rush
Q4.
Why was life tough for early Caribbean immigrants?
Correct answer: Rationing was still in effect.
They had nowhere to live.
Correct answer: They faced racism.
Correct answer: They had left friends and family behind.
They rarely found work.
Q5.
A high number of people from the Caribbean ended up settling in an area of London called...
Correct Answer: Notting Hill, notting hill
Q6.
In Notting Hill, racist ideas and discrimination caused riots there in August...
1957
Correct answer: 1958
1959
1960

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