Cardiff Uni has funded a mural of Wales’ first Black headteacher, Betty Campbell MBE

The mural was painted outside Mount Stuart Primary School, where Mrs Campbell taught


Cardiff University has funded a mural of Betty Campbell MBE which was recently painted on the front of Mount Stuart Primary School in Butetown, Cardiff.

Mrs Campbell was Wales’ first Black headteacher and was the headteacher at Mount Stuart Primary School from 1965 until 1999, where she pioneered multicultural education and diversity. She was awarded an MBE in 2003 for services to education and community life. 

The ten metre tall mural was completed with support from the school’s governing body and funding from Cardiff University. 

Helen Borley, headteacher at Mount Stuart Primary School said: “We are immensely proud of our school’s connection to Mrs Campbell as Mount Stuart’s first headteacher and Wales’ first Black headteacher. She is a continued inspiration to us and our community. Mrs Campbell’s legacy is a powerful message of what you can achieve given determination and drive.”

Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills, Councillor Sarah Merry also said: “Betty Campbell is an iconic figure whose approach to education and diversity has had an outstanding impact on the people of Butetown, Cardiff and beyond”.

The mural follows a statue of Mrs Campbell near Central Square which was unveiled in 2021 and was recently voted the best in the UK.

Betty Campbell was born in 1934 in Tiger Bay, Cardiff and worked as a teacher in Llanrumney before becoming headteacher in Mount Stuart Primary School. During her time in education, she pioneered the teaching of Black history and culture, which she put on her school’s curriculum before it was introduced in the curriculum in Wales in 2022

Feature Image Credit: YouTube and Cardiff News Room

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