Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned

Gareth Evans

College Leader

gevans@kingshurst.tgacademy.org.uk

Ellis Baxter

Assistant College Leader

ebaxter@kingshurst.tgacademy.org.uk

Michelle Young

College Admin

myoung@kingshurst.tgacademy.org.uk

Charlene Antrobus

Learning Mentor

CAntrobus@kingshurst.tgacademy.org.uk

Who was Emmeline Pankhurst?

Pankhurst college is named after Emmeline Pankhurst who was a leading participant in the campaign for women’s equality within the United Kingdom. It is hard to imagine today that just over 100 years ago women were denied the right to vote and that if it had not been for the acts of individuals such as Pankhurst that women may well not have gained the right to vote in Britain today.

Pankhurst founded multiple group who campaigned for voting rights, including the Women’s Social and Political Union but despite this she was initially refused membership of political parties on the account that she was a women. Pankhurst’s methods of gaining media attention for her cause was, and still is questioned however it is undeniable that she campaigned for a just and right cause. On the advent of WWI Pankhurst called for any militant activity that was taking place to try and gain the right to vote was to be stopped so that the Suffrage Movement could support and not undermine Britain’s war effort. This saw women aiding in Britain’s industrial production. As a result of campaigning and Pankhurst’s stance during WWI helped bring monumental changes to women’s voting rights; in 1918 women over the age of 30 were granted the right to vote for the first time in Britain’s history.

Pankhurst did not stop at this though and continued to campaign for women’s equality in public life. She ultimately ended up being elected to Parliament and as a result of her continued efforts the voting age for women was reduced to 21 to bring it in line with the voting age of men. Unfortunately, Pankhurst did not live to see this change in law as she died the month before the change came into action. For her actions Pankhurst has been named as one of the most important people of the 20th century by Time magazine.

How did Pankhurst demonstrate the Habits of our school?

Respectful: Pankhurst respected the rights of women to be equal in society and that action needed to be taken.

Responsible: Pankhurst understood that sometimes it is responsible to adapt tactics so that it allowed Britain to fight WWI, if she had not done this it may have resulted in Britain losing WWI.

Aspirational: Pankhurst set out with an aspiration, an aspiration to achieve women’s equality. At the time this aspiration seemed unachievable, but she continued to successfully work towards this aspiration.

Hardworking: Pankhurst worked tirelessly to achieve her aims, to the detriment of her family relations.

Inquisitive: Pankhurst took steps to broaden her knowledge and views of the world. This saw her joining and attending a range of meetings to broaden her knowledge and belief, not just in Britain but France and Canada. She did not stop there and questioned the rules and ideas of Britain.

Resilient: Pankhurst showed resilience in her continuing fight to gain the right to vote. She became involved in the suffrage movement when she was 14 and it took 46 more years to achieve the first step of women’s voting rights, during which she had to overcome many obstacles.