Pride in Diversity at The Stanway School
What is The Stanway School’s View on Diversity?
There are many definitions of diversity including:
- “The state of being diverse/ there being variety”
- “The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations etc.”
Why is Diversity so important to The Stanway School?
At The Stanway School, we want all of our students to feel part of our school community.
This links to the Stanway Standard of being “respectful”, “considerate” and “proud”.
We have a strong anti bullying policy, which includes bullying towards the LGBTQ+community, at The Stanway School. Wel believe that “everyone in the school community has the right to learn, to teach and to work in a healthy and caring environment, without fear of being bullied. We recognise the negative impact it has on the educational experiences and wider development. Bullying has no place anywhere in our school communities and this applies both to the bullying of students and staff”.
Through our curriculum across the school we want to ensure that the students can:
- Fully discover their interests and talents
- Developing their understanding of diversity
- Celebrating what we have in common and promoting respect for our differences.
Who can the students talk to about Diversity Issues?
- Diversity Champions – new group launching in June 2021. If you are interested in joining the diversity champions, please see this video
outlining how to join. There is also more information on the display board outside the Hall in B Block about how to join this group and get involved. - Youth Health Champions – Teams in Year 9 and Year 10 – spot them with the “smiley face emoji” face masks. There is more information on the display board outside the Hall in B Block about how to join this group and get involved.
- There are worry boxes situated in each Head of Year office – these boxes are monitored by the Youth Health Champions where pupils
can share their concerns and ask for someone to talk too. - Many members of staff at the school are happy to talk about diversity issues including teachers, Head of Year, Assistant Heads of Year etc. On the rainbow posters around the school, you can see the members of staff who are available to talk on these issues. These include: Mrs Wadsworth, Mrs Deighton, Mrs Wright, Mrs Macdonald, Miss Hamblen, Mr Hanna, Mr Thorpe, Miss Cooper and Miss Whittle.
- Year 10 drop in support with LGBTQ+ support service Outhouse East on Monday lunchtimes 1.20-2pm in Ms Doherty’s office on the ground floor of B Block.
How do we educate the students on Diversity at The Stanway School?
Diversity issues are discussed in many subjects across our curriculum at The Stanway School.
In the 2020/2021 academic year, Miss Jones and the English Department have launched whole class readers to form time sessions. The books were chosen to cover many themes including diversity. The chosen books are:
Year 7 – Wonder by RJ Palacio.
This book follows the story of August Pullman who is a young boy with a severe facial disfigurement who is starting Middle School. The novel follows his journey during his first year of school. The story is inspired by real events of a lack of acceptance for an individual with a severe facial disfigurement.
Year 8 – Once by Morris Gleitzman
This book describes the Nazi occupation of Poland through the eyes of a young Jewish boy called Felix. One of the main themes addressed in the book is the Nazi persecution of Jewish people.
Year 9 – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon
This book follows the story of Christopher, the narrator, who discovers
that a neighbours dog has been killed with a pitch fork and takes this on as a mystery that he wants to solve. The novel focuses on autism, which it is strongly hinted that Christopher has during the novel. We are able to view the world through his eyes such as: what his life is like, how he attempts to solve the murder and bigger issues within his family.
Year 10 – To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This novel is set in the 1930s in a small town called Maycomb. In Maycomb, there are many residents who are racists; throughout the novel there are themes of tolerance, empathy and understanding which are explored in detail.
Our tutor time PSHE sessions cover many events such as LGBT History Month in February, Black History Month in October, PRIDE Month and Diversity in Schools week in June. Morning PSHE sessions are tailored to cover topics on these. During these months, the subject teachers are also encouraged to link these to their subjects e.g. for Black History Month,
the History department circulated information about famous people in History who linked to each subject which were shared in lessons during this period. In addition to these form time resources, assemblies are often tailored to cover these topics and delivered by senior members of staff at the school.
As well as our PSHE lessons, PSHE form time sessions follow a programme of resources from Votes4Schools. These resources are linked to topical events that occur in the news and often have themes surrounding diversity. Please see the examples of some of the recent topics we have covered in 2020/2021.
All subjects contribute to making our curriculum as diverse as possible and we are always reviewing this to meet the needs of our students and what is happening in society. For example, in Citizenship and PSHE, during the Black Lives Matter protests, students focused on why the issue was in the media, the events surrounding the death of George Floyd and how we can help make our communities more inclusive.
