ABSTRACT
Mass immigration into the UK began after World War II, when poor and hungry peoples from devastated Europe and from the West Indies and South Asia arrived in the country, some as political refugees, others as economic migrants, seeking work in order to survive. Afro-Caribbean immigrants were the first to bring their wives and children with them and were gradually followed in doing this by immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, the majority of whom achieved family reunification in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s respectively. Ethnic minority children started to come into British schools and settings in significant numbers in the early 1950s. How the children were regarded and educated in those early years was determined by decisions made on educational grounds but also on the political dogma, racist thinking and public opinion of the time.
