SSAT’s Summer Series event in April focused on creating anti-racist school communities. We were honoured to be able to draw on the knowledge, experience and insight of British-Nigerian historian, broadcaster and film maker Professor David Olusoga, who provided a keynote input that was thought provoking, empowering and moving. David reminded us at the start of his input that we are approaching the second anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. He said that this is a good time for us all to reflect on what has been possible, what has been achieved and what is yet to be achieved as we tackle issues of racism, discrimination and disadvantage to better support the learning and development of children and young people.
With this in mind, we are sharing with you in this week’s Sunday Supplement some resources to support your reflections.
Firstly, you can access the recording of David Olusoga’s session in The Exchange. We strongly encourage you and colleagues in your school to make time to watch it in full. It is an ideal stimulus for collective reflection and action as, in David’s words, we ‘grapple with these issues’. Please note that the recording is only available until 31 May June 2022.
The event included two excellent presentations from Eltham Hill School and St Michael’s V.A Junior School which we are also making available to you. These demonstrated the passion and commitment stakeholders across each of the schools have for this work and showcased:
- How the schools are successfully shaping their curriculum to close gaps and more strongly and positively reflect diversity, equality and inclusion
- How children and young people can be encouraged to learn about, talk about and better understand race and different cultures
- How children and young people can be prepared to challenge and speak out about racism.
Headteacher at Eltham Hill School (EHS), Erika Podmore, and her colleagues Maxine Ferguson, Deputy Head and Jess Costa, Head of Year, showed how their equalities audit has enabled them to build on and strengthen the school’s anti-racist strategy. The south London community in which the school sits is known for the 1993 murder of Stephen Lawrence. Working with Eltham Hill and other schools to engage the entire school community in a big, brave, conversation about equality and race equality has been an honour. As in other schools, the audit at EHS which incorporated voices of all stakeholders, highlighted the need for a deeper focus on race equality. The recording is a helpful insight into the practical steps and actions being taken at Eltham Hill to ensure diversity and equality is high priority and at the heart of all they do.
Deputy Headteacher Sarah Claflin and HTLA Corrisande Laniado are the ‘RACE Leads’ from St Michael’s V.A. Junior School in Norwich. St Michael’s was one of the first schools to achieve a RACE Charter Mark. The Charter Mark is delivered by Figtree International and moderated and awarded by SSAT. Sarah and Corri explained how integral the Charter Mark journey has been to their school’s race equality journey. Hearing how some of the youngest learners are being involved in this work and how partnerships are enabling and helping to sustain this work was particularly striking.
David Olusoga commented at the Summer Series event that the fact that we are discussing these issues and having this ongoing debate in the SSAT network, across schools and in other organisations is deeply significant.
Earlier this week I attended the MAT Partnership network event in the North-West. The event brought together MAT senior leaders to share experiences and learn about solutions from innovative suppliers. Importantly, the event started with a panel discussion about diversity and inclusion. John Murphy, CEO of Oasis Community Learning and chair of the event hosted this panel. The questions he put to panel members are relevant to all of us in our schools and to our leadership and governance teams. John agreed that we share the questions below with teachers and leaders in the SSAT network. The questions can be adapted and will be useful for reflection on what has been possible, what has been achieved, and what is yet to be achieved, as we continue the work to develop our schools as anti-racist communities.
- What is an uncomfortable truth in your trust/organisation that you are trying to solve in relation to diversity and equality?
- What is your top strategy to make sure that all your staff feel that they belong?
- What have been the major successes or obstacles in establishing diversity in your senior leadership?
- In all the things we want to be as an employer – what advice can you give others about how you actively promote equal opportunities?
- If you were secretary of state what are the changes you would make to EDI?
Find out more about the RACE Charter Mark or get in touch with us to discuss how we can support your race equality work.
