Anti-racism

Through our curriculum development, staff training and student activities, we are making big changes in response to the needs and rights of our students.

Curriculum

All departments are committed to decolonising their curriculum. Audits have taken place to establish what content is already being covered and the steps that need to be taken to further improve what is delivered. Every department displays their anti-discrimination on classrooms doors so that it is signposted clearly for students.

RS, Citizenship and Ethics and Politics

Content includes: Traditional African and Asian beliefs, Rastafari, how Christmas is celebrated around the world, accurate racial depictions of Jesus, Stephen Lawrence and institutional racism, Jane Elliott’s blue/brown eye experiment, intersectional feminism, race as a social construct, equality vs equity, Bristol Bus Boycott, Mangrove 9, New Cross Fire, the impact of race on capital punishment, stereotypes regarding terrorism, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s danger of a single story, Race Relations Act/Equality Act, the cause of and response to the 2011 riots, as well as learning about notable figures like Diane Abbott, Olive Morris, Malcolm X, Gandhi and the Dalai Lama.

History

Content includes: White washed History looking at representations of Ancient Egypt, Afro Romans, comparison between Medieval Europe and Baghdad, Black Tudors, exploring inventions and innovations across the world during the 15th-17th centuries, Africa before slavery, the role of the Empire in WW1, Indian Suffragettes, debating whether Churchill deserves to be on the £5 note, British Empire on Trial, totalitarian regimes across the world, Holocaust and Rwanda comparative study, Nightingale vs Seacole, British and American Civil rights, Apartheid. Providing context to the time period studied, ‘meanwhile, elsewhere…’ to explore unconnected but diverse topics appearing at the same time period, like whilst England was ruled by Queen Elizabeth a huge empire was being developed in West Africa, for example.

Geography

Content includes: Balanced, global overview of countries and cultures around the world, historical and colonial context context given when studying places and how they have influenced the place, sharing a variety of geographical views and activists like Vanessa Natake and Licypriya Kangujam, using alternatives to the Mercator projection, using Dollar Street to deconstruct misconceptions, neo-colonialism, challenging problematic geographical terms like ‘slum’.

Art

Content includes: Omar Victor Diop, Faith Ringgold, Deborah Roberts, Keith Piper, Chris Ofili, Hurvin Anderson, Wangechi Mutu, Emma Amos, Nilupa Yasmin, Yinka Shonibare, Steve McQueen, Ellen Gallagher, Mary Sibande, Donald Rodney, The Singh Twins, Nick Cave, Barbara Walker, Tim Okamura, Sonia Boyce, Partou Zia, El Anatsui, Kehinde Wiley, Delita Martin, Kara Walker, Alma Thomas, Frank Bowling, Zohra Opoku, Mark Bradford, Adrian Brandon and Jasmine Thom

Science

Content includes: How biological difference between human population groups has its origin in genetic and environmental causes, how commonly used racial categories do not map onto genetically-determined phenotypical differences between individuals and groups, how race is therefore a social construct, not a biological reality. The impact of institutional racism in modern medicine and how it produces highly racialised differences in outcomes for patients needed maternity care or treatment for communicable disease, the historical contributions of scientists from a wide range of global backgrounds, with particular focus on developments in the Islamic golden age. Case studies of modern scientists of colour and their contributions to research and the challenges they have faced in their professional lives, the impact of climate change on different communities around the world, environmental racism, and response of indigenous and global South populations to ecological challenges.

ICT and Computing

Content includes: E-safety for everyone, making students aware of information online which could be bias or offensive towards different cultures. Activities based on diversity and race in the field of Computer Science for KS3. At KS4 we inform students of our great ethnic and diverse Computer Science pioneers, who make Computer Science what it is today to broaden their horizons about chosen career paths they could pursue after taking the GCSE.

English

Content includes: Greek Mythology and representation of diversity with the ancient world, short stories from around the world, the role of marginalised groups in Jacobean literature, Industrial Manchester and diverse representation, Intersectionality within Shakespeare’s ‘Much Ado About Nothing’, Noughts and Crosses, poetry of protest, exploration of the linguistic implications of racial slurs and the weight of words.

Languages

Content includes: places around the world that speak Spanish and French, traditional African and South American stories, festivals from around the Spanish and French speaking world, and how to give opinions on racism and violence.

Music

Content includes: Hip Hop and Blues Music which celebrate the huge influence both genres have had on modern pop culture, Reggae and Samba drumming and look at the history, country and culture of the genre’s and learn how to play the famous songs of that genre, and steel pan workshops.

Maths

Content includes: different ways of representing number in different cultures and through history (e.g. hieroglyphs, roman numerals, Igbo numbers), presence of prominent mathematicians from a variety of cultural backgrounds, the history of the algebra and how many different cultures and countries have contributed to the topic, origins of pi, interpreting data relating to diversity in Government (from a mathematical context, but give students the opportunity to draw conclusions about this data).

Dance

Content includes: World Dance styles to learn about and celebrate a variety of cultures and traditions, study a diverse range of professional works and choreographers as well as exploring the history and context of each style.

Staff CPD

Members of staff undergo regular CPD dedicated to anti-racism, delivered by specialists from the academy as well as external agencies, like Kids of Colour, Vini Lander and Bennie Kara. Time has been given for departments to share the changes they’ve made when decolonising their curriculum with other members of staff, both to give the opportunity for feedback as well as idea sharing.

Anti-racist working groups

KS3 and KS4 anti-discrimination student groups meet twice a half-term. The meetings are delivered by anti-discrimination ambassadors from the Student Leadership Team. Students discuss their priorities for change then feedback to the staff working group to establish next steps.

A group of staff meet regularly and are responsible for different areas of improvement, including communications, student voice, curriculum, CPD and Roma organisations.

Themed months

We celebrate Black History Month in October, Asian History Month in March and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller History Month in June. Related content is delivered in every subject at KS3 and many subjects at KS4. External visitors are invited in from local universities and organisations to teach specialised lessons. We end the month with a traditional dress day for students and staff. See what we did for BHM in 2019, BHM 2021 and AHM 2022.

External agencies

Students have been involved in regular remote calls with Kids of Colour since July 2020. Our students also took part in online lectures with The Black Curriculum and have attended their weekend Springboard programme.

Student and parent voice

Students are surveyed once year to gather the views of all students in the academy to assess areas where anti-racist practice work is being delivered well and areas for improvement. A similar survey is also sent to parents each year, which is available in a wide variety of languages to ensure high participation, which looks at their experience of the academy as a parent to our students and which topics they would like us to cover. An anti-racist parent/carer meeting takes place once a half-term where parents share their ideas for change and are updated on the most recent anti-racist work in the academy. If you are interested in attending the parent meetings, contact Miss Morris via email, LMorris@cma.bright-futures.co.uk or telephone, 0161 248 7009.