Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at KWS
Katherine Warington School strives to be a diverse and equitable school in which every member of the KWS community feels like they are seen, heard and belong. As a school, we are committed to the highest ideals in our search for full equality, diversity and inclusion; and this is central to our school’s ethos and values as outlined in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) statement:
“At KWS we are dedicated to the creation of an equitable and inclusive environment where every member of our community is empowered by the knowledge and their right to be seen and respected as their authentic self despite of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation or disability. This goal will be met and carried forward only if, each one of us, upholds our duty to create a compassionate and supportive environment; an environment that nurtures each individual to feel valued, respected and free from any form of disrespect, intolerance or intimidation. This freedom will be demonstrated in our character, the way we carry ourselves, treat others and oppose inequalities and discriminations as supportive and proactive allies and peers.
We acknowledge and understand that inequality and discrimination is prevalent in society. Therefore, we must, with our students, be clear that we are responsible for our actions and words. We empathise with the understanding that this is a journey, therefore it is imperative that we learn from our mistakes. At Katherine Warington we cherish diversity and actively seek opportunities to learn from experiences and perspectives which are not our own. We appreciate that each member of the KWS community is an individual, that is why we endeavour to distribute resources and opportunities equitably to ensure that every single person thrives and feels a true sense of belonging at Katherine Warington School.”
As we enter a new academic year (2022/23), we recognise that we are still very much at the start of our pursuit of equality, diversity and inclusion. To guide us through this and future years we are in the process of developing an updated EDI action plan which covers all aspects of school life.
What are we doing this year?
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Events and Celebration Calendar
Throughout the academic year, as a school, we will be recognising, learning, actively participating and celebrating important aspects of our school community. We will do these by: form time activities, assemblies, whole school events, family led celebrations and charity events.
Equity, Diversity and Inclusion CPD
Using various resources such as: guest speakers, staff briefings led by our EDI lead and regular reviews of the KWS EDI glossary, our vision is to enable all staff to be confident in delivering a culture of true equity, diversity and inclusion.
Curriculum Leads are encouraged to reflect on and amend their curriculum, ensuring our curriculum not only represents a diverse curriculum captivating our diverse student body but also to ensure we are using the most up to date and inclusive language.
Across the last year we have aimed to:
- Create a safe space for conversations around equity, diversity, and inclusion
- Examine bias and how our life experiences influence our behaviours
- Recognise the power of everyone to effect change
- Increase our self-awareness
- Shift our mindset from unconscious to conscious
- Commitment to personal and collective action
Racial Equity Data Analytics company Flair Impact and KWS are collaborating over the next three years to harness data to drive racial equity. Through discovery and resolution our goal is to beat racial bias and shine a light on the root causes of race inequity through four steps:
- QUESTION – Listening to students and staff through a science back survey we map our school culture
- COMPARE – Using our results, we are able to visualise our strengths, uncover our weaknesses, and benchmark our progress.
- SOLVE – With data driven recommendations and the use of algorithms to make sense of the data turning it into meaningful human insight, we receive actionable insights along with a bespoke racial equity roadmap
- REPEAT – with our progress benchmarked, we repeat the process to track progress, measuring the impact of our work and demonstrating our genuine commitment to racial equity.
Student voice and staff voice meetings
Using areas highlighted as needing exploring from the FLAIR survey results, students and staff alike from different groups within the KWS body are given regularly opportunities to discuss areas they would like to have looked at in school. Some of the areas covered so far include inclusion being sought through food options, uniform and absences.
The anonymous nature of these meetings enable stakeholders to express their concerns which then enables us as a school to make the adjustments needed to ensure everyone feels included.
Community outreach:
As part of this year’s aims of reaching out to the local community, we have recently held our first ever Hannukah event raising money for a local Jewish charity which supports young people diagnosed with autism and their families. By making links with the wider community, we are teaching our students important values such as empathy and raising money for those in need.
Our next community-focussed event will be next month during Ramadan where KWS look forward to hosting our first ever Community Iftar, bringing together people of all backgrounds on an evening of reflection, team building through a fun quiz exploring commonalities amongst different world religions before finishing the night with a meal at sunset when our Muslim attendees break their fast.
Collaboration with HfL Education
Just like Us – the LGBT Young People’s Charity
Recognising and Celebrating Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at KWS
Black History Month October 2024
The last few weeks have seen our students and staff take part in a variety of activities around the school to mark Black History Month. As well as assemblies for each year group discussing the theme of ‘Reclaiming the narratives’, our students were invited to enjoy lunchtime activities including screenings put on by Mr Gardiner exploring themes of cultural identities and the power of language within Black communities.
Black History Month at KWS has been a learning opportunity for both myself and students, specifically when it comes to the importance of the way language is used by all; especially when retelling the history and stories of Black people and their experiences being relayed as authentically as possible by correcting historical inaccuracies that have become the mainstream narrative.
Show Racism the red card month at KWS November 2024This year’s LGBT History Month theme was “Activism and Social Change” with a particular focus on the establishment of legal protection of those hailing from the LGBT community. Students were given assemblies across the school on how it was through activism and social change that members of the LGBT community have been given protection and that without the activism that has taken place through various channels as pictured below, social change was unable to take place.
Allyship was raised as a topic again in every year group, discussing how important it is to stand for those that need support which led to a reading of the touching poem by Pastor Martin Neimoller: “First they came.”
Students enjoyed arts and crafts activities alongside an animated film before enjoying a special lunch menu organised by our caterers. As well as making lanterns with Miss Hu and Mrs Kilby, Mrs Chow created some beautiful cut out decorations out of red card (pictured) with hidden messages in Mandarin of Spring. Thank you to Mr Lee who kindly put together traditional envelopes full of chocolate coins that are given out to children at Chinese New Year for our students who attended our film showing.
We are delighted to say that our now-annual community iftar was a sold out event which saw over 15 charity/community/faith groups from the local area come together to share a meal at sunset with Muslim guests who were fasting. The event was once again co-funded and organised in conjunction with Harpenden-based Muslim community group the Harpenden Community Circle whose aim is to strengthen community ties in Harpenden across different people irrespective of backgrounds in order to better our town.
This year saw the Mayor of Harpenden attend as well as local MPs and wIth charity being a key theme of the Islamic faith, donations were received on behalf of the local foodbank who gave a talk on the crucial work they do for local families in need. A presentation by students was also shared on misconceptions of Ramadan and our guests were treated to an array of activities including henna tattoos, arts and crafts as well as puzzles/wordsearch looking at commonalities between the different world religions.
Feedback from the event was phenomenal and feedback included descriptions such as ‘heartwarming’, ‘uplifting’ and ‘inspiring to see so many different people come together’. I look forward to planning an even bigger and better iftar for next year.