Leicestershire Schools United – Anti Racism Pledge

In the wake of the recent Black Lives Matter protests, we as educators and people with an interest  in the education and welfare of young people in Leicester, feel a sense of responsibility to take  leadership at this moment to challenge racism and improve the curriculum. 

We understand this is a highly challenging time for schools, but feel it is crucial they acknowledge  that students, parents, governors and staff are affected by two pandemics; Covid-19 and racism. These pledges alone are seen as a starting point to show a school’s willingness to engage in  dialogue and begin their journey to becoming an Anti-Racist School. 

We call on schools to: 

1. Release a statement in support of the BLM movement. 

2. Display clear information on how to report racist incidents & commit to releasing data in  relation to this. 

3. Carry out Equality Impact Assessments on all school policies and practices and review and   rewrite accordingly. 

4. Redesign the curriculum to include the teaching of racism, migration, Empire and colonialism. 5. Provide training for all staff & Governors focusing on “racial literacy” i.e. an understanding as  institutional & structural and the history behind it so enabling them to see and respond to, the  ways the education system can and does reproduce racism and racial inequalities. 

All schools signing will be invited to contribute to the development of next steps and will receive  support and resources as required. 

All staff and Governors should be made aware of why these actions are necessary and Black  students, wherever possible, should be given priority to express their opinions. 

Educators and school leaders, we care deeply about all our young people and want them to feel  safe and welcome in school. This feels like a significant moment and we want to take the lead and  carry the momentum into the new academic year. 

For more information contact Ruth Sinhal at ruthsinhal@gmail.com