Coming to England

In this Year 1 English scheme on the book Coming to England by Floella Benjamin, your class will find out about the fascinating life of a woman who arrived in England as part of the Windrush Generation.

After looking at the front cover of the book Coming to England, your class will make predictions about what will happen in the story. They will use the text to find out all about Floella Benjamin and will explore her journey to England through both drama and writing. Children will learn how to write in role as Floella, empathising with how she must have felt to leave her home of Trinidad behind on her long journey to England. They will describe the Trinidad setting using adjectives and will compare this to the London setting she moved to. Your Year 1 class will write diary entries to explore how many people made Floella and her family feel unwelcome when they arrived in England and will find out about the amazing achievements she has made within her lifetime. Children will explore how Floella's feelings changed throughout the book Coming to England. At the end of the scheme, children will reflect on what sort of person Floella Benjamin is.

Each of the lessons in this Coming to England English Pack includes an easy-to-follow plan, a set of engaging slides for the teaching input, differentiated activity ideas and printable resources.

Please be aware that, for copyright purposes, we are unable to provide the full text for this scheme of work.

Looking for another scheme about an incredible black woman who also had to overcome racial prejudice? Download this Mary Seacole KS1 History scheme about the British-Jamaican nurse who helped set up the British Hotel to help British soldiers in the Crimean War.

Finding out facts about a character

Children use the front cover of the book Coming to England by Floella Benjamin to make predictions about what will happen in the story. They read the first part of Coming to England and answer a range of questions to help them identify facts about the main character and begin to make simple inferences.

They then write sentences about what they have found out. Useful sentence starters are provided to support children writing about Floella Benjamin and her family. At the end of the lesson, children make predictions about what will happen next in the story Coming to England.

Everything you need to teach this engaging lesson on Coming to England by Floella Benjamin is included within the pack. There is a detailed lesson plan with differentiated activities, a useful slideshow and all the printable differentiated resources required.

View Lesson 1

Writing in role as a character

After recapping on what they can remember has happened so far in Coming to England by Floella Benjamin using a helpful vocabulary bank, children read the next part of the story. Drama is used to explore how Floella Benjamin felt as she boarded the boat to England.

They then write in role as Floella, telling Marmie about the journey to Southampton. Throughout, there is a focus on children talking and rehearsing ideas before writing to help build confidence. Alternatively, children retell the journey through drama. At the end of the lesson, children predict what will happen when Floella arrives in England.

This Coming to England by Floella Benjamin lesson pack contains a detailed lesson plan written by an experienced teacher, a useful slideshow to help bring the learning to life in your classroom and all the printable resources you need to make this lesson a success.

View Lesson 2

Using adjectives to describe a setting

In this lesson, children look at photographs of Trinidad and develop a bank of high quality adjectives to describe the Caribbean landscape. They are taught what is meant by the terms 'adjective' and 'noun'.

They then write descriptive sentences to describe the landscape Floella Benjamin left behind in the book Coming to England. Helpful sentence starters and a word bank of quality adjectives are provided to support children's writing. Alternatively, children write a postcard in role as Marmie to describe the London setting she has arrived in. At the end of the lesson, children help improve a text by including adjectives to describe the nouns within it.

Everything you need to teach this engaging lesson about Coming to England by Floella Benjamin is included within the pack. There is a detailed lesson plan with differentiated activities, a useful slideshow and all the printable differentiated resources required.

View Lesson 3

Writing a diary entry

This lesson begins with a recap on the previous session by working with a partner to identify adjectives and nouns within sentences describing the Caribbean setting Floella Benjamin came from. Children then read the next part of the story Coming to England by Floella Benjamin and find out how Floella and her family were made to feel unwelcome when they first arrived in England.

Drama conventions such as sculpting and thought tracking are used to explore Floella’s inner thoughts as she is being picked on at school. Children write a diary entry in role as Floella, reflecting on these experiences. At the end of the lesson, children relate events in the book Coming to England by Floella Benjamin to their own lives.

This pack contains a detailed lesson plan written by an experienced teacher, a useful slideshow to help bring the learning to life in your classroom and all the printable resoruces you need to make this lesson a success.

View Lesson 4

Tracking how a character feels throughout a story

Children read the final part of the story Coming to England by Floella Benjamin. They think about how the way Floella felt changed throughout the story. Throughout, there is a focus on supporting children to explain why they think Floella felt the way she did at different moments in the story.

At the end of the lesson, children find out about the things Floella Benjamin has gone on to do and reflect on what sort of person she is.

Everything you need to teach this engaging lesson about the book Coming to England by Floella Benjamin is included within the pack. There is a detailed lesson plan with differentiated activities, a useful slideshow and all the printable differentiated resources required.

View Lesson 5