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🏫 Mr. Burke’s Classroom – 3-Week Summer School (2025)

Focus: UK Black & Caribbean History Through English
 Dates: Week Beginning Monday 28th July – Friday 15th August 2025
 Structure: 2 lessons per week | 1 hour 15 minutes each | Online via Google Meet
 For: KS3–KS4 students
 Taught by: Mr. Burke (Qualified English Teacher & Black History Specialist)

📆 Week 1 – Windrush & Belonging

Theme: Migration, settlement, and identity
 GCSE Link: English Language Paper 2 (non-fiction analysis & transactional writing)

Lesson 1: The Windrush Generation – Arrival & Hope

Objectives:

  • Understand the reasons for Caribbean migration in 1948
  • Analyse historical non-fiction to extract meaning and tone
  • Practice summary and retrieval skills

     

Reading: Edited 1948 article from The Daily Gleaner + image of SS Empire Windrush
 English Skills:

  • Summary and synthesis (Paper 2 Q2)
  • Retrieval (Paper 2 Q1)
  • Language analysis (Paper 2 Q3)

     

Main Task:

  • Write a short summary comparing two perspectives on the Windrush arrival
  • Vocabulary builder: “pioneer,” “disembark,” “optimism,” “hospitality”

Lesson 2: Belonging & Exclusion – Life in 1950s Britain

Objectives:

  • Explore the challenges faced by Windrush settlers in the UK
  • Infer attitudes and feelings from a first-person narrative
  • Respond creatively using historical detail

Reading: Memoir extract or oral history (e.g. Voices of the Windrush Generation)
English Skills:

  • Inference and interpretation (Paper 1 Q4)
  • Creative writing with stimulus (Paper 1 Q5)

Main Task:

  • Write a descriptive piece: “Your first day in post-war Britain.”
  • Focus on sensory detail, tone, and atmosphere

📆 Week 2 – Resistance, Culture & Protest

Theme: Activism, expression, and community
GCSE Link: English Language Paper 2 (viewpoints & persuasive writing)

Lesson 3: Claudia Jones & Carnival as Resistance

Objectives:

  • Learn about Claudia Jones and her role in creating Notting Hill Carnival
  • Analyse writer’s purpose and tone
  • Practise persuasive article writing

Reading: Profile article or speech by/about Claudia Jones
English Skills:

  • Writer’s perspective (Paper 2 Q4)
  • Article writing (Paper 2 Q5)

Main Task:

  • Write an article: “Why Black British culture should be celebrated.”
  • Focus on structure, emotive language, rhetorical devices

Lesson 4: The Mangrove Nine – Protest & the Police

Objectives:

  • Understand the Mangrove Nine case as a turning point in civil rights history
  • Compare bias and tone in different texts
  • Write using a formal and persuasive voice

Reading: Court report extract and contrasting opinion piece
 English Skills:

  • Compare viewpoints (Paper 2 Q4)
  • Formal letter writing (Paper 2 Q5)

Main Task:

  • Write a letter to a newspaper editor expressing your views on protest and justice
  • Use persuasive techniques and appropriate tone

📆 Week 3 – Modern Voices & Media Representation

Theme: Expression, identity, and the power of language
 GCSE Link: English Language Paper 2 (analysis & opinion writing)

Lesson 5: Poetry of Protest – Agard & Zephaniah

Objectives:

  • Analyse how language and form convey identity and rebellion
  • Explore poetic voice and rhythm
  • Respond creatively to poetry

Texts:

  • “Checking Out Me History” – John Agard
  • “The British” – Benjamin Zephaniah (edited for accessibility)

English Skills:

  • Unseen poetry analysis (comparison & technique)
  • Extended metaphor, contrast, and tone

 

Main Task:

  • Write a short poetic response or a paragraph analysis of one poem
  • Explore themes of identity, voice, and power
Lesson 6: Media, Representation & the Power of the Image

Objectives:

  • Explore how Black British individuals are represented in the media
  • Identify bias, tone, and intention in real-world texts
  • Develop analytical and critical writing skills

Reading: Two contrasting short texts or headlines about a Black British public figure (e.g. positive community feature vs. sensationalist coverage)

English Skills:

  • Language analysis (Paper 2 Q3)
  • Comparing viewpoints and presentation (Paper 2 Q4)
  • Opinion writing (Paper 2 Q5)

Main Task Options:

  1. Q4-style response: “Compare how language and tone are used to shape the reader’s view in the two texts.”
  2. Q5-style response: “Write an article arguing why fair and equal media representation matters.”

Support Focus:

  • Subject terminology: bias, tone, agenda, contrast
  • Integrating quotes effectively
  • Structuring arguments clearly
Welcome to Mr. Burke’s Classroom, led by Ofsted-rated teacher Marcus Burke with 10+ years’ experience. Specializing in English and Sociology, he offers the Home School Academy, Weekend Academy, and 1-to-1 Tuition.
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