Year of Diversity 2023/2024
This year we shall be focussing on celebrating the diversity of our school community. We shall be developing opportunities to celebrate the many cultures that contribute to the richness of school life.
This year we also want to consider race equity and to explore how we can further enrich our curriculum to ensure that there are opportunities for all children to be represented. We will also be considering how we can further develop our anti-racism teaching.
“We cannot close our eyes to any form of racism or exclusion, while pretending to defend the sacredness human life.” Pope Francis
Great Representation Leadership Programme
This year we are fortunate to be part of the HfL Great Representation Programme. This annual leadership programme aims to:
- Encapsulate the key features, structures and practices of schools that have a strong ethos of anti-racism, to better understand how schools become great at inclusion, diversity and equality.
- Explore strategies, review literature and hear from expert speakers on how to achieve great representation of people of colour in the curriculum and the school community
- Share great practice and ensure that schools engaged in exciting race-equality practice are contributing to system leadership in Hertfordshire
We have been inspired by Aisha Thomas founder of Representation Matters.
Aisha challenges us to imagine a world where all races are represented in all aspects of life, where children grow with a sense of value, connection and understanding of difference.
Aisha believes we can all play a role inspiring the next generation. #RepresentationMatters
RJED Strategy
We are also working to create an RJED Policy (Racial Justice Equality and Diversity) as part of the Diocesan initiative. This is a Westminster Education Service initiative with a working party. It began as a working group for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) concerns. Then following the death of George Floyd on 25th May 2020, which sparked a national and international response, it evolved into RJED, so that it was inclusive of all cultures and races, such as Travellers and other minority groups. Implicit in the title is the importance of ‘inclusion’ – we are all equal members of a diverse community, characterised by mutual respect and love.
This Strategy is very much a call for our schools to work towards racial justice because it is relevant in every one of our schools and parishes without exception.
Racism and racial discrimination are a concern for all of our schools because they refuse basic justice and human dignity to all adults and pupils who are made in the image of God. They also assume that all people are not equal before God and are thus not part of God’s family. This contradicts our mission and vision.
One World Week 2023
During one world week each class celebrated the culture of one country. We had a fabulous week singing, dancing, baking and tasting! We were delighted to welcome many parents in to school to share their knowledge and experience of life living in different countries. Ariela’s mum came to talk to us about Pakistan, Gabriella’s mum shared interesting facts about Colombia. Mya’s mum and sister spoke to us about Zimbabwe and Julia and Naomi’s mum cooked a Zambia delicacy over an open fire. Luca’s mum told us about Italy and Federico’s mum helped us fill delicious cannoli. Mrs Martides and her sister-in-law spoke to our Reception about life in Cyprus.
