What does Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) look like at STAGS?

As a multicultural school with a rich heritage, discussion about Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity has always been on our agenda but is now under the spotlight. Education moves at a constant, fast pace and as schools, we are powerhouses of responsibility for young people. The current generation has access to so much information and voices from across the world, and it is our role and responsibility to give students the cultural capital needed to ensure that they are prepared for the wider world and their futures as active and fully participating citizens in society. We aim to ensure that we have the cultural competence to achieve this and, as such, we aim to ensure that all staff have the provocation and courage to extend beyond the sympathy of race and be proud allies, deliberate activists of the
anti-racist agenda.

Our dedication to Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity was further enhanced with our involvement in the Great Representations project with Herts for Learning. This project allowed us to discuss, debate and share best practice around EDI with schools from across the county with the aim of ensuring that EDI is embedded throughout every facet of our school community.

As part of our Pastoral Curriculum we ensure that we have open discussions about a whole spectrum
of topics surrounding equity for example, race, gender, LGBTQIA+, challenging stereotypes, culture, diversity. This comes in the form of a weekly Form Time slot called ‘STAGS Talks’ which is then complemented by ‘STAGS Talks About’ club to continue the discussions at lunchtime.
 

A safe and positive space for students to explore, talk about and discuss challenging issues, including race equality within and beyond the classroom

STAGS Talks form times take place on a weekly basis across the whole school, where staff and students create material to be delivered on a breadth of topics such as: anti-racism, current affairs, refugee week, black history month, LGBT+ History Month and much more.

In addition to this the STAGS Talks about…club runs on a weekly basis at lunchtime, where students have a safe space to discuss, explore and learn about a diverse range of issues linking to the pastoral curriculum of the week.

STAGS Talks is an initiative run by Ms Taylor amongst many members of the whole staff body, who all endeavour to establish an inclusive and diverse whole school community by embedding a culture of equity throughout everything we do.

What the students say about STAGS Talks:

• “It has given a safe space for discussion as well as the impact it has on the whole school and feeling involved in the wider community feels very impactful. Also, hearing other people's opinions has shown so many different perspectives.”
   
• “The club has made me feel included and encouraged me to speak up. I feel more educated every time I go as it gives us the opportunity to learn about other experiences. I feel like it is actually creating change within the school.”
   
• “Opened my eyes to more issues of the world and made me more comfortable speaking out on issues”
   
• “Become a safe space to discuss and understand things I didn't understand before”
   
• “Talking and initiating debates in a healthy and controlled environment by letting the students lead conversations with each other”
   
• “[students can] freely discourse and share their views and hear both sides”