At Chobham Academy we are dedicated to creating an environment where students feel safe; we want students to feel proud of their school and proud of themselves. We believe this is essential for student wellbeing and for students to thrive academically. To help create this environment, the Youth Leadership Team, with the support of the entire staff and student body, will be working hard to produce an Anti-Racism Charter. The charter will be central to the way we treat others and view ourselves. Before the charter is created, we feel it is important that we look at the language we use as an academy to talk about race and identity.
To do this, we will be discussing the appropriateness of certain terms as descriptors of race. In order to ensure that the whole student body has a voice, we will begin by looking at language in the weekly tutor notices. Students will be presented with a word that could be used to discuss race and identity; they will also be presented with the arguments as to why this word may be considered appropriate or inappropriate. We are then encouraging students to visit the Student Helpdesk during Wednesday lunchtimes to fill in an anonymous opinion card outlining their view on the weekly word. The outcome of this process is to have a shared language which we agree is appropriate when discussing race, and language which we can then use for the foundations of our Anti-Racism Charter.
I look forward to updating you with our progress.
Ms P Haigh, Assistant Principal
