LAURA EVANS AND KERRY-ANN McNAMEE-OBI, WOODBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL, UK
Introduction
Despite increasing diversity among students in UK schools (DfE, 2025), the teaching workforce (particularly at leadership levels) remains disproportionately white and does not reflect the students or communities that we serve. The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER, 2022) published a landmark study highlighting the sharp drop-off in ethnic minority representation as staff progress into middle and senior leadership roles.
Analysing our own data from 2023 showed that we also had a significant issue with representation: with 51 per cent of our students from minority ethnic backgrounds, this compared to just 24 per cent of middle leaders and 10 per cent of our senior leadership team.
A multi-layered strategy
Racial literacy training
In line with recommendations from the Runnymede Trust (Joseph-Salisbury, 2020), we recognise the need for deliberate training in order to better understand the
Join us or sign in now to view the rest of this page
You're viewing this site as a guest, which only allows you to view a limited amount of content.
To view this page and get access to all our resources, join the Chartered College of Teaching (it's £1 per year for trainee teachers and half price for ECTs) or log in if you're already a member.
