Anti-racism and Racial Literacy  

Anti-racism and Racial Literacy 

  

At Cottesmore St Mary, we are committed to promoting honest and open conversations so that we learn from one another and listen to the lived experience of under-represented groups within our community.

What we are doing to foster good relations across all protected characteristics:  

We promote a whole-school ethos and values which challenge prejudice- based discriminatory language, attitudes and behaviour.

We aim to provide a school environment that welcomes, protects, respects and celebrates diversity.

In order to prepare children for life in a diverse society, we ensure that there are activities across the curriculum that promote the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our students.

We teach about difference and diversity and the impact of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination through RE, RSHE, EPR, assemblies, celebration days and across the curriculum.

We ensure that materials and resources reflect the diversity of the school population and local community. This includes a wide range of diverse reading material in the library.

We provide opportunities for students to appreciate their own culture and celebrate the diversity of other cultures.

We are developing further opportunities for students to contribute to our work in equality and diversity, e.g. through School Council initiatives, celebration of diversity and whole-school competitions.

We promote positive messages about equality and diversity through displays, school assemblies, visiting speakers and whole school events.

School staff receive racial literacy training to develop their knowledge and understanding.

 

Click on the links below to view our Anti-racism and Racial Literacy strategies:

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Show Racism the Red Card

Each year, the children at Cottesmore St Mary take part in ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ day. On this day, children are educated on the consequences of racism. Children produce their own work against racism in the form of posters, poems, speeches, animations and films. As a school, we prioritise ways that we can further educate our children in order to eradicate racism, racial inequality and racial injustice. We want to develop a generation of anti-racist citizens.

 

Diversity in our curriculum 

At Cottesmore St Mary, we are always seeking ways to improve our curriculum to ensure that more of the contributions and achievements of those with African or Caribbean heritage are taught and recognised Every subject leader’s action plan aims to develop diversity within their curriculum area and every day learning and teaching practice (e.g. resources; worksheets; PowerPoint images; displays)

 

Black History Month  

Each year during Black History month in October, children are taught about Black History and the importance this has had on shaping all History. Black History Month gives everyone the opportunity to share, celebrate and understand the impact of black heritage and culture. The challenges and contributions faced by local people are explored and children across the school complete an extended home learning biographical project on someone who has inspired them.
In History, children in Year 6 learn about the impact of the Civil Rights Movement in America. The Civil Rights Movement is a defining moment in history, during which Americans fought to make real the ideals of justice and equality. Children also study and consider the effects of prejudice and discrimination experienced by the people who moved to Britain during this period with particular reference to Caribbean nurses in Brighton and the Windrush generation.
The children learn what it means to be active citizens and to recognise injustice. They also learn about the transformative role played by thousands of ordinary individuals, as well as the importance of organisation for collective change. As a school, it is vital that we prioritise ways that we can further educate our children in order to eradicate racism, racial inequality and racial injustice.

Anti-racist education- Good to be Me lessons  

Through our EPR topic, ‘Good to be Me’, children celebrate diversity and the beauty of being unique. The aim of these lessons are to support children’s exploration of their identity and grow a sense of belonging, thereby supporting their emotional health and wellbeing. They support work delivered within EPR to reflect on family diversity, gender equality and LGBT inclusion. These lessons have a particular focus on race and ethnicity and give children the opportunity to develop their confidence in using positive language to recognise and describe their skin tone as a part of their identity. Central to the purpose of these lessons is the aim to challenge possible colour blindness and to develop instead a colour brave approach so that children feel safe and confident to acknowledge and talk about skin colour differences positively. The lessons also include activities to identify and challenge mean and bullying behaviour and signpost where to get help if appropriate.

 

Diverse literature 

In addition to exploring ways in which we could create an improved curriculum, with increased focus on celebrating heritage and history, whilst also identifying and exploring discrimination that is still faced today both in and out of schools. We also wanted to ensure greater diverse representation for example, within the literature that the children read ideally both within and out of school. As a school, we identified that it was vital we prioritised ways in which our whole school community is represented in the resources and literature we use. Our books celebrate important and inspiring Black heroes as well as fiction books that have a more diverse representation of people. Throughout our newsletters, parent/carers are signposted to books with protagonists who represent the diversity and culture of our community.
We have visits from black authors such as Carolynn Bain, a local Brighton author. Carolyn independently owns a Brighton bookshop that specialises in books by black authors. Year 5 and 6 had the pleasure of visiting Aforii Books in Autumn Term to explore and celebrate these books.

 

As a school, we have generated a book list 

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Class Saint

As part of a wider school drive to develop our inclusivity and celebration of diversity, we made sure our class saints represent the world and our school community. We wanted a balance of women and men, individuals from a range of places and ethnicities and including saints from our locality. We also looked for saints who linked to our curriculum, in order to make those all-important connections for the children. We are very happy that our saints celebrate an increasingly diverse representation of significant religious people in the Catholic Church.

 

Workshops on racial injustice

Throughout the year, children across the school receive workshops run by arts education company, Bigfoot. The programme aims to encourage young people to understand that you are never too young to make a stand against racial injustice. Post the sessions, children create powerful pieces of work to reflect the subjects being discussed. 

 

Racial literacy and staff training 

Racial literacy refers to educators having the knowledge, skills, awareness and dispositions to talk about race and racism. We are committed to making a difference to this aspect of education and understanding of children within our school.
Staff have regular training on racial literacy to help develop their knowledge and be effective facilitators. We have dedicated staff meetings where we discuss current issues. As a staff team, we watched an inspiring video lecture from a Dr. Robin DiAngelo, a University of Washington professor. During the lecture, Dr Robin reads from her book "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism,” explaining white fragility and how white people can develop their capacity to engage more constructively across race.
Brighton and Hove City Council have committed to becoming an anti-racist council and to tackling racism and bias in schools: