Raising standards in education through Culture, Diversity, and Inclusion
Uncover the hidden histories of those that built the UK and those currently leading the way with the Figures of Black British Society (FOBBS) app.
Want your students to easily learn about Black British figures?
Immersing children in diverse content is important, but as educators, it can be hard to find, share, and use this content. Do you want one resource to help with all of this?
Start using FOBBS and begin a journey of education and inspiration.
What is the Figures of Black British Society (FOBBS)?
FOBBS showcases inspirational Black British figures in one resource.
We focus on delivering high quality information of figures with Black British heritage.
Suitable for all learners ages 5 years and up. Our app offers a range of content types to encourage learning in the way they learn best. Accessible on mobile and a web app so learning can happen inside and out of school.
Benefits to children
This app will benefit children by being:
Educated
Search by names, locations and events to learn about figures that fit with their curriculum.
Entertained
We are always updating our content and features to improve the app.
Independent
Content tailored for different age ranges. Guided Reading feature allows children to learn from even more complex text.
Inspired
Discover new figures based on their interests.
Why is FOBBS needed?
Black British achievements and contributions are not woven into our society. This has led to a number of issues:
Achievements Not Known
The work that historic Black Britons have achieved isn’t widely known. This is painting a picture that Black Britons didn’t have any part to play in making the UK the powerful country that it is today.
Too Few Inspirational Figures
UK schools do not regularly teach about Black Britons. This can lead to Black British children growing up with invisible boundaries on what they can achieve.
Lack of Representation
There is still a lack of diversity in most industries even though it’s been proven that more diverse teams have better outcomes for companies.
Challenging Environments
Daily challenges of systemic racism and unconscious bias are still affecting black and mixed heritage individuals.
Features
We have a ton of brilliant features for you to enjoy within the app.
Age-determined content
Depending on your age, the app will present you with suitable content. This will encourage younger users to engage with the content because it’s specifically tailored for them.
Daily Spotlight
Random profiles of figures will be selected via the figures birthday or month. These will be shown on the Dashboard to encourage the discovery and introduction to new figures to inspire the audience.
Podcasts
We link to podcasts of the interviews or biographies from these figures that will further support a figures profile of background information.
Text-to-speech
We want to ensure that the content is accessible to all audiences and ages, so all text content will have a text-to-speech option available.
Videos
We link to interviews of current figures or historical sources that will further support a figures profile of background information.
The need is here!
We’ve spoken to the experts and found that FOBBS solves a lot of their problems.
It’s really important for children to see those similar to them and for all children to see representation so they don’t become ‘othered’. Representation needs to be integrated across the board.
Dr McDowell, Educational Psychologist
The proposed work in the area of Black British history is highly needed within our education system and current society.
Headteacher @ Dunraven Education Trust school
The work of FOBBS and Kayleigh Oliver is a vital instrument in the journey towards educating students on Black British History. This is an app with the power to provide a deeper understanding for students all over the country, FOBBS is what I needed in school!
Kwame Asiedu, Project Manager, Black History
& Culture Collection
Available now
Available to play via our play website or download on Android or iOS. We’d love to hear what you think so we can make this the best product that it can be.
Partners & Supporters
