Anti-Racist School Award 2024-27
In September 2022 Trinity CofE High School started its journey towards achieving the Leeds Beckett University’s Centre for Race, Educational & Decoloniality (CRED) Anti-Racist School Award. In October 2024 Trinity achieved the Bronze award.
As a school community we are proud of the work we have done to make our school more inclusive and promote anti-racism.
The Bronze award is a movement in the right direction to educate staff, students, governors and the wider community in all areas of anti-racism. We will continue to improve our school policies, procedures, curriculum and partnerships to reflect our anti-racist journey. The Anti-Racist Award focuses on the following areas to embed school improvement:
Governance
Leadership and Management
School Environment
Professional Learning and Development
Hidden Curriculum
Pedagogy and Curriculum
Parents/Carers and Community Partnerships
The purpose of the award is to highlight and improve race equality within schools while promoting safety and wellbeing for BAME staff, students, parents, carers, and those in the community. Over the last two years, we have worked towards decolonising the school’s curriculum so that it reflects the school’s diverse students and staff. Representation in all areas is key. You can’t be what you don’t see.
In addition to this, staff and governors have undergone training on anti-racism as well as key changes being made to school policies and procedures.
Trinity strives to be an inclusive school. We will continue our work towards promoting anti-racism and inclusion within Trinity CofE High School and our local community.
From the Trinity High School Anti-Racist School Award Final Assessment Validation:
“There is a strong effort to ensure that students with SEND, Black, Asian, and ethnic minority students, and those who use English as an additional language feel welcomed, supported, and celebrated.”
“Staff are provided with regular, diverse training delivered by both external experts and internal facilitators, to increase racial literacy among leaders, staff, and students.”
“Following the completion of the award, the governing body and the leadership team will take the lead in ensuring that the school’s anti-racist approach continues into the future.”
“To ensure continued progress, anti-racism targets are built into the performance objectives for the school’s leadership and management. These priorities will be reviewed annually by governors and will remain a key focus at the departmental level.”
“Trinity High School is successfully embedding anti-racist practices, with over 60% of its profile demonstrating sustained progress.”
Our Curriculum
Some examples of how our departments have made their courses more inclusive:
History
In History we are aiming to give students the agency to understand their country, society and world around them. We endeavour to achieve this by teaching them a range of topics that challenge the way they think whilst being reflective of our student body. This can be seen through our topics on; medieval Baghdad, migration into the UK and the Silk Roads in Year 7 which focus on how different parts of the world were connected through the past. In Year 8, students study African Kingdoms, Columbus and the Spanish Empire, and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. These topics aim to explore the impact and legacy of empires and how people resisted them. In Year 9, we study familiar topics such as the World Wars and Civil Rights movements, but refocusing them to include more diverse voices and study the experiences of lesser known figures and groups.
Science
Students are exposed to scientists of diverse backgrounds, learning about the routes scientists took to enter their career and any obstacles they faced in this time. For example, in Year 9 Physics, we learn about William Kamkwamba, a Malawian man who developed renewable energy resources in his community. In Biology, students learn about the variation in humans (categorised into genetic and environmental factors), and how race is not biological, rather a social construct. When learning about nutrition, students look at foods from a range of cultures. When learning about space and the seasons, students look at calendars developed in different civilisations from across the globe. In Chemistry, students learn about how the elements of the Earth were discovered by scientists from a wide range of countries, and how the universal language of the periodic table is used by scientists of all nationalities. They also study the impacts of climate change around the world, and how different communities are affected by these changes.
Music
Y7 Content: ‘Samba, Pulse and Rhythm’ examines the origins, culture and West African influences on Brazilian Samba. We also look at West African drumming techniques.
Y8 Content: ‘Song-writing Layers’ includes history of early soul and r’n’b via the artist Ben E. King. Later in the year, pupils try out their own song-writing skills which includes looking at rap and hip-hop.
Y9 Content: Blues music looks at the huge influence this genre has had on modern music and includes a focus on powerful female blues singers of the 1920s. Reggae music is looked at in the context of protest songs and as well as learning reggae songs, pupils investigate the political and social context of the music of Bob Marley.
