We stand together

The horror that unfolded in front of our eyes where an African American man was pinned to the ground by a person whose job it was to protect members of the community. The police officer chose to press his knee on the neck of George Floyd who cried out “I can’t breathe”.  He stopped breathing and died. The murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and many others that haven’t made the headlines, sparked an outpouring of grief, anger and a show of support across the world. The scale of the resulting peaceful protests led by the Black Lives Matter movement brought people of all ethnicities and social classes together in solidarity with a demand for justice and equality for all. 

We are school with a rich, diverse staff and student body and within our caring community, we will continue to develop our curriculum to ensure that it is meaningful, relevant and more accurately reflects all of our contributions to society. We stand firm and united that racism has no place in our school or in the wider world. Racism in all of its visible and invisible manifestations must be challenged, and without reservation we express our commitment to anti-racism.  

As the scriptures have taught us, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus'' (Galatians 3:28). We believe and we teach that all lives are of equal value. It is clear, however, at this time following the murder of George Floyd that has newly exposed a much longer history of individual and systematic racism that black people continue to face, it is fair to say that attention must be given to rooting out anti-black racism in society.  

As a woman of colour and the Headteacher of this amazing school, I encourage our girls to be bold; to be seen and heard. We empower our girls to have a voice and speak out against inequalities and speak up for equality, human rights and justice. We stand side by side with our students, families, staff, governors and friends of diverse heritage, ethnicities, faiths and non-faith backgrounds, and through our values of Service, Compassion, Justice and Perseverance actively oppose prejudice and injustice. We will work together in solidarity within the caring, happy and safe community that we have built to constantly challenge racism and inequality so that we can all thrive and flourish.

Statements – while important – are not in themselves a sufficient response. We stand together, we will not be complacent, we will listen, learn and act.

Your support in talking to your daughter during this time when we are not together at school will help us in our joint endeavour to speak out against inequalities. Please take time to look through the resources we have added to this page. Click here to take you to a separate page on our website with further resources  and opportunities for action in support of our stand against racism.  Visit Yoopies website here and download ‘A Parent’s Guide to Black Lives Matter’

The banner image at the top of the page was created by Sarah in Year 11. Thank you for creating this wonderful image for our school.