Kenya in the 1950s

Decades Fortnight has provided the opportunity for children in Years 7 and 8 to explore an example of local history from the 1950s that went on to impact the world: on the 6th of February 1952, the then Princess Elizabeth was told of the death of her father, King George VI’s.

Now known as Queen Elizabeth II, she had travelled to Kenya with her husband, Prince Phillip, as part of a royal tour. The couple visited the Aberdare Forest, where they were awed by the natural beauty of Kenya’s wilderness. They spent the night at Treetops, which was then a basic hut built up high into a Mugumo tree, and it was here that they heard the news of Elizabeth’s accession to the throne.

Using a variety of historical sources - both primary, such as newspapers of the time, and secondary, namely clips from the Netflix series The Crown, children were able to make inferences and observations about this key moment in history.

Year 8 demonstrated their learning through diary entries from the perspective of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip about their time in Kenya. Despite being a creative writing task, children were encouraged to focus on embedding geographical and historical facts to their work.

Year 7 showed wonderful empathy as they imagined what it might have been like for Elizabeth and Philip on their unexpected flight home; they wrote and performed dialogues, using the formal register of the British royal family in order to convey what may have gone on during the undocumented conversations which took place during this important journey.

To help children develop their research and enquiry skills, they then investigated the fate of Mugumo tree that the Royals had stayed in before they heard the life changing news. Unfortunately, it was discovered that the tree is no longer standing and was in fact looted and destroyed in the months after the Royal visit. This led into learning about the Mau Mau uprising and the fight against British Colonial rule. We looked at the idea of emotive history and how to successfully learn about contested events from our past. Both Years 7 and 8 impressed with their maturity and ability to utilise facts when discussing the uprising.