News | Wednesday, 28th October 2020
Head of Nursing’s Windrush tribute inspires new generation of children, this Black History Month
London primary school teams up with NHS and world-renowned steel pan orchestra to perform Prof Laura Serrant's poem ‘You Called…We Came’
A London primary school has teamed up with the NHS, a world-renowned steel pan orchestra and a Hollywood director to perform Professor Laura Serrant OBE’s Windrush-inspired poem ‘You Called…We Came’.
St Antony's Catholic Primary School chose Head of Nursing Professor Laura Serrant as an inspirational icon to study during the school’s focus on Black History Month 2020. As part of their reflection on Professor Serrant’s 35-year career, they chose to perform her poem ‘You Called…We Came’, written to mark the Windrush Generation’s impact on British society and the NHS.
Professor Serrant composed the poem to mark the 70th anniversary of the ship Empire Windrush landing on British soil. The ship first docked on 22nd June 1948, carrying workers from Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and other islands to fill post-World War Two labour shortages, including the NHS which launched the same year.
Workers from the Commonwealth Countries continued to arrive in the UK until 1971 and were dubbed The ‘Windrush Generation’. Professor Serrant's parents were among those who made the journey.
Professor Serrant said: “I wrote the poem to reflect, recognise and celebrate the contributions made by Black Nurses to the health system of England, as well as the hardships, prejudice and challenges they faced.
"My parents were among the brave men and women who responded to the call from England to leave their island nations and venture out to the United Kingdom. Their role in rebuilding ‘the motherland’ after World War 2 changed the shape of Britain, themselves and their families forever.”
Taking inspiration
The school in Newham, East London was named ‘Sunday Times State School of The Year’ 2019-2020’ and works actively for the betterment of the local and national community, supporting such initiatives as The Living Wage Campaign which was launched in collaboration with the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in 2018 - working alongside Citizens UK.
The school’s year four, five and six students performed the poem, set to music by the school’s music teacher, Nathan Chan. They were accompanied and supported by the world-renowned Ebony Steel Pan Orchestra and Hollywood film director and writer, Saloum N’jie, who has worked as an assistant director on films including: Tomorrow Never Dies, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and Great Expectations.
Headteacher Angela Moore said: “Those working in the NHS and teaching have served the nation selflessly during the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to do so today as we still grapple with the challenges presented by this pandemic. It’s an honour to focus on the work of Professor Laura Serrant as an icon for our children today to give context to their current knowledge of The Windrush Generation and the work of the NHS.
“Every year we mark the achievements of BAME people who have achieved great things in their field of work and whom our children, who are largely of black and ethnic minority backgrounds, can directly relate to because of their heritage and ancestry.
“We teach our children that they can rise above their circumstances if they are prepared to work hard and dream big, they can achieve anything.”
A voice for equality
Professor Serrant is from a working class, immigrant background and was the first of her family to go to university, initially studying for a bachelor of arts degree and qualifying as a nurse in the early 1980s.
Following a career in frontline nursing, she has gone on to hold positions nationally and internationally, leading work at NHS England as head of evidence and strategy and working on the Prime Minister’s commission for the review of nursing and midwifery by the Department of Health.
Professor Serrant’s career has been defined by her determined and impassioned voice for equality, chairing the Chief Nursing Office for England's BME strategic advisory group and advising on black and minority ethnic issues for the government. She is also an ambassador for the Equality Challenge Unit for Higher Education.
This October, she was named as one of the top 50 most influential health leaders in the country by the Health Services Journal.
She has led the University’s nursing programme since 2018 and was the only Black head of nursing in the country at the time of her appointment. The department has continued to grow and prosper across education, research and internationalisation and was most recently recognised as one of the top 10 programmes in the country in the Guardian University Guide 2020.
She said: “It’s an honour to be recognised in this way, and I’m so heartened by the school’s choice to focus on our heroes of health and teaching for the next generation of learners to look to for inspiration. It’s so important to acknowledge the value being given to these professions and protect the diversity of these career paths, which shape our futures and save lives.”
Read Professor Serrant's article on the Windrush generation, written for Black History Month: You Called and We Came: Remembering Nurses of the Windrush Generation
