A LONDON primary school have written directly to the Home Secretary demanding justice for the Windrush generation. 

But Priti Patel snubbed the 57 letters, instead passing their letters to a civil servant in the visa and immigration section.

Now the school kids are calling on the Home Secretary to visit their school so they can have a conversation with her about the Windrush scandal.

Pupils in Year Five, at Kingfisher Hall Primary Academy in Enfield, north London, wrote to Priti Patel, after learning about the Windrush scandal during their English and History lessons. 

The letters are part of a new initiative at the school called ‘Force for positive change’ (F4C+), which encourages pupils to take action against injustices – which they are passionate about.

The children were supported by their class teacher Ms Elisabet Coffi Rope, who told The Voice it is essential children use their voice to address social issues affecting them and their communities.

She said: “We were reading the Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah and the children were really shocked and a lot of the children found out that some of their family members belonged to the Windrush generation.” 

Ms Coffi Rope said the children were “outraged” and wanted to do something to help.

After receiving guidance on persuasive writing, the children applied their knowledge of the Windrush generation from history lessons, and wrote a total of 57 powerful letters to the Home Office. 

The hand-written letters, by the nine and 10-year-olds, were sent to the Home Office in December asking for the Windrush generation to be treated with respect and adequately compensated. 

Ms Coffi Rope is also a curriculum leader at the school and said she was supported by the headteacher, who is determined to “decolonise the curriculum” and ensure black history is not taught in a “tokenistic way” but included “through-out the year.”

Speaking to The Voice, headteacher Matthew Clifford said: “I had an opportunity when I arrived here, just over three years ago, to rewrite our curriculum from scratch and it was hugely important for me to make sure our curriculum reflected our children and our community. 

“We made sure we included role models from cultures that we had in our school and community.” 

He added: “I always thought Black History Month was quite insulting, it is narrow to [only celebrate it in one] month, but it should be something we just do as part of our curriculum.” 

Ms Coffi Rope added that it is important for the next generation to see themselves represented in lessons, so they believe they can make an impactful change in the world. 

The F4C+ initiative was implemented three years ago, as part of the newly developed curriculum.

“We believe they deserve a real response from her office and personalised to the children.”

Ms Coffi Rope

Mr Clifford added: “I wanted the school and the curriculum to teach the children about the issues in the world they are growing up in, but more importantly, to develop the confidence, tenacity and resilience to do something about these issues.”

In a letter seen by The Voice, the UK Visas & immigration department replied to the school and said the Windrush Compensation Scheme had been “carefully designed with independent oversight to ensure that those who are eligible are compensated.”

The letter also added: “There is no cap on the amount of compensation we will pay out and in July 2021, we removed the end date of the scheme to ensure no one was prevented from applying.

“We aim to consider all claims for preliminary award of £10,000 within six weeks of their eligibility being confirmed.” 

While the reply was acknowledged by the school, they expressed their disappointment that the response was not directly from Ms Patel or her office, but the UK Visas & Immigration department.

Ms Coffi Rope said: “The children thoroughly studied and researched the topic to be able to write all these outraged yet eloquent and factual letters. 

“We believe they deserve a real response from her office and personalised to the children.”

The Home Office told The Voice, the department receives a large amount of correspondence every day and the responses are often allocated to the team which has the experience and knowledge to provide an informed response.

Marino Charalambous is the CEO of the trust that manages Kingfisher Hall Primary Academy. 

He told The Voice, it is important that teaching staff reflect the pupils in the classroom, to allow them to fully engage and thrive in school.

Mr Charalambous said: “My family were immigrants to the UK and they came over from Cyprus in the 1960s, I’m the son of an immigrant family. 

“English wasn’t my first language and it is very personal for me that we embrace the different cultures in our schools.  In my role, I have been fortunate to recruit the right people into posts in our schools across the trust.  I’ve recruited headteachers and teachers that are passionate about making a difference and who feel it in their heart. 

“Across the trust, children can look up and see people from a similar backgrounds to them, understand where they come from and inspire them and make learning an opportunity for a better future.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We thank the children of Kingfisher Hall Academy for taking the time to write to the Home Secretary. The Home Secretary and the department remain steadfast in our commitment to members of the Windrush generation.

“We are determined that everyone from the Windrush Generation is able to confirm their status in the UK and claim the compensation they are entitled to, so far we’ve paid or offered over £43 million to the Windrush generation.”

The school is hoping for a reply from the home secretary when they write to her a second time.

They are also considering personally inviting her into the school. 

Mr Clifford said the school will continue with their social justice work and hopes other educational institutions will follow suit. He said: “Some of our change initiatives need to be shared and then adopted by other schools. 

“We want to reach out and get the support of more children and schools to really affect change and make a real difference on issues that children of today are facing.  Our goal would be for F4C+ to be part of the national curriculum.”