Celebrating Diversity

Our new Head Girls and Diversity Team are developing a range of initiatives to help recognise and celebrate the differences within our community and beyond.

Led by Deputy Head Girl Chehara, the Sixth Form Diversity Team are promoting a culture that is welcoming and inclusive for different cultures, religions and the LGBTQ+ community.  They are supported by our recently established Undivided Council, made up of pupil representatives from every year group.

Earlier this month, they created posters about the festival of Eid and organised a special, celebratory themed lunch. The Head Girl Team’s latest newsletter focused on raising awareness of the diverse network of Asian communities, with plenty of podcast, restaurant and film recommendations. They also curated a display of Asian literature in the library, developed form-time activities for pupils to learn about the heritage of different Asian countries, and organised delicious online cook-alongs for pupils and staff, led by Sixth Formers.

Other events this month have included a Speaker Series event with David Baddiel, discussing anti-Semitism, and an assembly by CEO of the Holocaust Educational Trust, alumna Karen Pollock CBE, who encouraged pupils to speak out against racism and prejudice: “Have the confidence to use your voice and know you can make a difference.”

We also continue to review how diversity and inclusion are embedded in our everyday teaching and learning. In Modern Foreign Languages, students study a range of fiction and non-fiction to open their minds to new perspectives.  In French, Year 9 students read extracts of the graphic memoir L’Arabe du Futur by the award-winning cartoonist Riad Sattouf, which recounts his upbringing and school days in Syria in the 1980s.

GCSE Spanish students have been reading La Tierra de las Papas and La Hija del Camino; one pupil commented: “It’s so important that we are given the opportunity to learn about real life issues that affect people all over the world. Studying these books has given me a better understanding of discrimination and opened up valuable discussions in the classroom.”

Sixth Formers who joined an online academic book club with other GDST students, led by our Spanish Teacher, Mrs Nwoko, added: “The extracts we read highlighted the necessity to continue to fight for equality so that all people, no matter their race or background, may be treated with and shown the same kindness and respect as one another.”