Diversity and Anti-Racism
At St. George's we believe strongly that EVERYONE should prosper and flourish in God's wisdom. We are very aware that this can be more challenging for some groups within our society. We want to make sure that our children, families and staff are educated to challenge this inequality in all areas.
We will call out racism wherever we see it. Racist comments will not be tolerated in our school community.
Training
Our staff training schedule includes regular opportunities to explore areas such as unconscious bias, racial trauma, racism and micro-aggressions. We challenge each other and seek to ensure that St. George's is working hard to challenge all stereotypes and biases.
Our Deputy Headteacher is involved in a steering group with the Church of England to explore racism within the Church of England. We are trialling materials for them and will help to produce exemplar materials.
St. George's CE Primary School is committed to positively tackling discrimination in all its forms and works to ensure that all sections of the community have fair and equal access to and experience within employment. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and communities, in particular those that are currently under represented in our workforce; we are respectful of all individuals’ race, age, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, caring responsibilities, disabilities and cultural background.
Reading
We have an anti-racist reading list which the staff team are reading and we discuss issues of equality regularly in staff meetings, INSETs and in our every day conversations.
Representation
We understand the importance of representation and actively seek to represent all of the children in our school community. This can be subtle, such as ensuring there is an image of Jesus that is non-white within our worship slides or explicit, such as preparing a programme of careers talks involving people of colour.
We have worked hard over the last few years to ensure that our library is representative of the community we serve. This is not done by a 'shelf' in the library but by having a wide selection of books in all areas of the library that represent the diversity of our school. We are proud of the choice we have on offer and constantly work with the children to ensure we have a great selection of books for them to enjoy. A huge thanks to Reading for Change who supported us with a wonderful selection of books.
Curriculum
While reviewing our curriculum over the last five years, we have worked diligently to ensure that it is representative of the community we serve. We have ensured that people of colour are represented in all curriculum areas and that any focus on Black history is not solely about the horrors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It is crucial that ALL of our children know about the wealth and prosperity of the African continent and the Empires that came long before the 18th Century. It is important that children of colour can feel proud of their history and that all children are taught the history of our world from all perspectives.
Reverse Mentoring
Over the last 12 months, members of our team have embarked on a reverse mentoring programme. In reverse mentoring, issues that face the Black community are discussed to ensure that white staff working in our community understand the challenges facing the Black community and can work as allies.
We will continue to roll out reverse mentoring among the staff team going forward so we can continue to improve our provision.
Equalites Objectives
It is important that we represent the community we serve. Our equalities objectives over the next few years reflect this desire.
Goldilocks on World Book Day