"No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."
Nelson Mandela - Long walk to Freedom  

 

We believe that our school has a crucial role in tackling racism and other forms of discrimination. We are committed to standing against racism and injustice, alongside and in solidarity with the local and global Black community, and to enabling the children to be able to express and understand who they are and what is racism.

The #BlackLivesMatter campaign shone a light again on racism, injustice and prejudice in our world. Such injustices make people feel shocked, scared, angry and upset. Our job is to continue to shine this light in our school, and give children the tools to be able to share their feelings and understand the issues at their level. 

We know that positive things can happen in response to awful things – people around the world are coming together to share their feelings and to call for change. Racism is wrong and we need to stand up together against it. We believe in fairness, respecting one another and celebrating the wonderful diversity in our world. Our school community here at Sacred Heart is united in love and respect for one another and we will always stand together.

Whilst we stand by these beliefs and see them as pillars of our ethos as a school we can and will do more. Having met with parents to discuss how as a school we move forward with responding to some of the issues highlighted by Black Lives Matter movement, we have committed to the following: 

• Build the curriculum so that it incorporates Black significant figures and charts their contribution that goes beyond only focusing on those who stood against racism and injustice, e.g. when teaching history, incorporate the Roman Africans in Britain, Black and Asian soldiers in the world wars, Black royals and Black authors
• Develop Black History month each October as a platform to build the wider whole year curriculum
• Establish a working party of pupils to discuss current issues and share with the wider school
• Give prominence to Black Lives Matter on the school website and in our newsletters
• Audit resources used in school including in the library
• Continue to engage with parents and other schools in this area

 

Reception class learned about each other’s families. The grandfather of one of our children joined the school on Zoom to share his experience of Windrush and to answer questions. Key Stage 2 children learned about the life of Ruby Bridges and celebrated a Carribean carnival. Key Stage 2 children discussed issues such as similarities and differences, and community and belonging, learned about Nelson Mandela and the significance of South Africa's Rugby World Cup victory, and explored Rosa Park's experience through letter writing.