Celebrating our school community: Creating an anti-racism inclusion group

JAMES LEIGH, HEAD OF YEAR 12, HEAD OF FUTURES AND HISTORY TEACHER, READING BLUE COAT, UK I trust that I am not alone in believing there to be intricacies inherent in the necessity for staff to actively celebrate diversity in school communities, while also actively enforcing anti-racism. Indeed, since 2022, Keeping Children Safe in Education requirements (DfE, 2022) make it clear that schools have a duty to promote diversity and inclusion, and there have additionally been discussions regarding the importance of treating racism as a safeguarding issue (Boakye, 2022). Further, on an academic front, there is ample evidence that students perform better when they feel a sense of belonging and inclusion in their setting (Clarke et al., 2023; Korpershoek et al., 2020), as their achievement motivation is enhanced through social connection (Walton et al., 2012). Emphasis is now explicitly placed on the value of student voice in both Ofsted (2023) and the Independent Schools Inspectorate’s (I