Mrs Cruse (Head of Years 7 and 8)
On Monday 28th February, the Year 8 students engaged in a Diversity and Inclusion Day, which involved various enriching activities and open discussions.
The day started examining the background of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Stephen Lawrence Murder and the impact both of these have had on society.
The students then examined the art work and inspiration behind the work of artists, Chris Ofili and Jean-Michael Basquiat. They had to design some of their own art work inspired from what they had learnt from the discussions.
After break, the school Anti-discrimination group led a session examining what is meant by discrimination and what the difference is between direct and indirect discrimination. Year 8 students then discussed the protected characteristics, looked at scenarios and had a focused discussion examining different forms of discrimination.
In the afternoon they watched the powerful movie, The Hate U Give, which is based on the bestselling novel by Angie Thomas. They finished the day using extracts from the book and their emotions from the movie to create some powerful pieces of poetry. This also led to a discussion looking at the importance and power that different types of media have when discussing representation and educating people on social issues.
Aleena Azam (Year 8) reflected on the day: “During our Diversity and Inclusion day I learnt about the importance of different faiths, cultures and races and how we are all equal though different. I enjoyed watching the film, The Hate You Give, despite it being very emotional yet educational. It gave an accurate depiction of the discrimination people still face today. Learning about indirect and direct racism helped me to understand how you can overcome and help if you or someone you see/know are experiencing this. I very much enjoyed this day and how we as a school help celebrate the diversity within our community.”
Riddhi Karsan (Year 8) added: “I thought that yesterday was a great opportunity to remind us about what is going on around the world and the tough times that many are going through. I think there were lots of great quotes that came from the movie and it taught us a lot about why we should help and not ignore the situation that is going around. It is important we have other days like this to bring awareness about everything that should be fixed in the world.”
