By Mr Gracie, Deputy Head – Student Engagement and Welfare
I really believe that if something is important it is worth saying and worth talking about. When I was younger in my career I sometimes wondered if I was becoming boring or predictable by returning to important themes in Geography or the values that matter in my pastoral work. Of course, the reason we come back to things regularly is because they matter and are important. And, as I have got older and have my own teenage children I have come to realise I am probably boring and predictable. But, being boring and predictable by reminding students about important issues and knowledge is something I can live with.
As I have looked back at my assemblies from my first year at BGS, I can see two clear themes. Nearly every one of them has included a reminder about the importance of respecting the nine protected characteristics as part of communicating that everybody matters. And secondly, always focusing on the the “Five Ways to Wellbeing”1 as a reminder that we can all be proactive in looking after our mental health.
We have updated our Positive Behaviour Policy at BGS for this academic year and when we consulted students there were three overwhelming things that came through as really mattering to them – kindness, respect and the value of good learning environments. What we noted in the feedback though was that the comments related to being kind really were about people being included and knowing they matter. This is why we have set one of our behavioural core rules as: ‘actively kind and inclusive’. Students will often hear me say that at BGS it is not good enough to not be part of the problem – we need to be part of the solution. Again, boring to hear over and over, but I will be very happy when we are predictably including everyone!
I also find myself returning to our Diversity and Inclusion pledge as this perfectly sums up what we are aiming to achieve.
We commit to being a warm and welcoming environment for all. We value each and every member of our community as an individual. We celebrate our differences and acknowledge that these make us a more powerful group as a whole. We commit to constructively challenging discrimination, so everyone feels safe to be who they are; free from prejudice or bias. We always treat each other with kindness and respect. Our commitment to inclusion permeates all that we do.
When unpacking this in my school assembly for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities2, we talked about the starting point for creating a welcoming environment being empathy. I really love the way that Brene Brown describes empathy in her book Dare to Lead: “We need to dispel the myth that empathy is ‘walking in someone else’s shoes.’ Rather than walking in your shoes, I need to learn how to listen to the story you tell about what it’s like in your shoes and believe you even when it doesn’t match my experiences.”
It was noted in our ISI inspection this year and our award from Muddy Stilettos as their most inclusive school that we are a wonderfully diverse community. We are also passionate about celebrating our diversity and the leadership of our student Diversity and Inclusion team and South Asian Society have given super examples of that this term. They have respectively set up new events themselves in the AfroBeats Dance-Off competition and Diwali Bollywood karaoke. This passionate and driven student leadership is a super example of the fact that noticing and celebrating different cultures and experiences really matters to us.
Whilst we are proud of the way we celebrate our diversity and drive for everyone to feel included, we feel we are only at the beginning of our journey. As a community committed to celebrating our differences and everyone being included we need to continue to take notice of one another and listen, really listen. This is hard to do over a long period of time but we are committed to doing it. We talked in our recent assembly about the data which shows the inequalities faced by disabled people in the UK3 and that we can all more actively consider where there might be hidden disabilities in our community – for example amongst neurodiverse or hearing or sight impaired students. Our next step then is to actively listen as friends and teachers to consider how we can support and change surroundings so that the extent to which they disable someone with an impairment is reduced as far as possible.
We are currently shaping the next phases of our school diversity and inclusion strategy as we continue to always look to learn from each other and wider expertise. I am keen to hear from members of our wider community who would like to offer fresh insights or experiences, and I do hope you will reach out to come and talk to us.
So, to end, please allow me to be boring and predictable, as I repeat my important messages one more time: be actively kind and inclusive, look after your mental health and remember to respect and celebrate all people, regardless of their personal characteristics.
- https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/five-ways-to-wellbeing/ ↩︎
- https://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/events/2024-international-day-persons-with-disabilities#:~:text=The%20theme%20for%20this%20year,and%20sustainable%20world%20for%20all. ↩︎
- https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9602/CBP-9602.pdf ↩︎
From the Headmistress 