8 December 2020
Following the Diversity Forum in June 2020 with former Head Girls and the current Head Girl team of Charlotte, Milan, Sofia and Misan, the school set up a diversity and inclusion programme to address some areas for improvement. Over this term, work on individual elements of the programme started and significant strides forward have been achieved. The six projects within the programme are: training and awareness for staff and students, curriculum review, staff recruitment, data analysis, policy review and the appointment of lead Governors.
One important first step was a new Anti-racism, Equality and Diversity Policy, which has been approved by governors. This outlines the school’s approach in one policy. The curriculum review is initially focusing on English and history and has started well. The English department, with student support, published a new Black Lives Matter reading list in response to the lack of black and ethnic minority authors and subject matter within the GCSE and A Level curriculum. There’s a large display along the English corridor to remind students of the reading list.
To understand more about the current levels of knowledge and opinions about equality and inclusion, students and staff were surveyed at the beginning of December. This will help identify where there are gaps and plan how to fill them. Alongside this, an external specialist is running a training session for staff ahead of the start of the spring term in January. This will be followed by sessions for students later in the school year.
Work will continue, with the support of equality and inclusion lead governors Judge Ifey Munonyedi and Tim Woffenden.