Two weeks ago, the whole of Fairlands took part in a collaborative afternoon of art and games, to promote our message of No Outsiders. Each year group were given a large piece of hessian fabric to decorate with pictures and an allocated word. All children across the school had the opportunity to put their mark on the piece of artwork as part of our lovely, inclusive Fairlands community. 

Last week, Fairlands had a visit from a representative from WheelPower - a charity which provides opportunities for disabled people to get into sport and lead active lives. Chris Rattenbury, a former powerlifter who has represented Britain at a number of international events throughout his career, came and spoke to the children in assemblies about a range of wheelchair sports and about his experiences particiating in paralympic events and wheelchair sports. The children asked lots of interesting questions and really enjoyed the stories told by Chris.

This week we were visited by Gemma and Max Keir from The Abilities in Me charity foundation. Gemma is a local author who writes picture books to help children understand theirs and others' differences, conditions and diagnoses. Gemma and Max delivered two workshop assemblies to all the upper site children which discussed ability vs disability, and talked about acceptance, understanding and kindness as being at the core of inclusivity. The children got to see some of the books, hear a story and ask the author some questions. It was a fantastic visit and helped us to see that we are all superheroes each with our own super abilities!

If you would like to find out more about them, head over to their website www.theabilitiesinme.com

Before the Easter break, we held our first Parent Forum to discuss equality, diversity and inclusion at Fairlands, with a particular focus on views about racial equity and racism.  It was a heartfelt and open discussion that raised many points to be considered.  Thank you to the parents who were able to attend and share their views.  Everything that was discussed has gone towards the actions that we are now taking to support our whole school community in this area.

We are not stopping there, though.  We would like to give everyone the chance to share their views and so we have planned further sessions where we would like to invite you to come and discuss equality at Fairlands.  The details have already been sent out, but here is a reminder of the invite to attend:

All the sessions will be with Mrs Herron and Miss Brooker, and will take place in the upper hall at 2pm.

The original letter that was sent, containing further details and infornation,  is also attached to this blog.

We look forward to seeing you at one of the discussion sessions.

At Fairlands, we are constantly striving to learn more and gain a deeper understanding of the diversity of our school and are committed to working to ensure that all our pupils, and their families, feel included and accepted in our school community. 

The Equalities Act (2010) outlines protected characteristics and states that no-one should face discrimination because of: Race, Religion, Sex, Gender, Age, Disabilities, Sexual Orientation, Pregnancy or Maternity, Marriage or Civil Partnership

We are already addressing many aspects through our robust programmes of Values Education, Jigsaw sessions and the No Outsiders activities, with a view to implementing and establishing an unwavering ethos of inclusion, acceptance and understanding of different groups of people. However, there is still work to be done on understanding the views of different groups of people and what we can do better to help them to feel included and accepted.

Our next step is to further tackle instances of racism. Our aims are to understand the historical nature, emotions and impacts these incidences have; to discuss the use of language for different races; to broaden our strategies for inclusion for all.  Over the next few months, we will be asking pupils, parents and staff to engage in discussions to determine what they feel is good about Fairlands, in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion, and what they feel we could do better at.  These need to be candid conversations so there is no ambiguity and we can move forward positively to improve everyone’s experiences with us.  We will be inviting parents and carers in for discussion in focussed groups to begin with, and then holding open group discussions.

For our first focus group, we would like to invite parents and carers for whom their ethnicity, or that of their child is: Black British; Black African; Black Caribbean; or Mixed White and Black African/Caribbean.

The session will be on Monday 27^th March at 2pm in the Upper Hall and will be with Mrs Herron and Miss Brooker.

We are looking forward to seeing you there and to working with you to eliminate racism at Fairlands.

Thank you for your support.

We have been enjoying our No Outsiders assemblies and learning lots about what makes us all wonderfully different! 

**REMINDER** Parent information workshops are Wednesday 1st February and Monday 6th February

At Fairlands, we are constantly striving to learn more and gain a deeper understanding of the diversity of our community. Through our values and Jigsaw education, we are already covering many of the protected characteristics which are identified through the Equalities Act (2010). To build on this, we are going to be engaging with a new scheme called ‘No Outsiders’. This implements an ethos of inclusion, acceptance and understanding of different groups of people and relates to the protected characteristics in an age-friendly manner.

The protected characteristics, as defined in the Equalities Act (2010), state that no-one should face discrimination because of:

·       Race

·       Religion

·       Sex

·       Gender

·       Age

·       Disabilities

·       Sexual Orientation

·       Pregnancy or Maternity

·       Marriage or Civil Partnership

This scheme has been developed by a primary school teacher from Birmingham in order to address these very characteristics in our increasingly diverse settings. The assemblies, lessons and activities are all addressed through picture books and discussions about differences. At the start of this term, all staff engaged in a whole-day INSET to prepare for implementation across the school.

You can find further information, regarding this scheme, from the ‘No Outsiders’ website at the following link: https://no-outsiders.com/

We would like to invite you to come in to find out more about this scheme and to see some of the picture books and lesson activities that will be used. You will also have an opportunity to ask any questions.

We will be running information workshops on the following dates:

Wednesday 1st February 2023: 6pm – 7pm

Monday 6th February 2023: 6pm – 7pm

Please complete the survey below to indicate if you will be attending either of these workshops: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2VZ7ZGB

Thank you for your support.

Mrs Herron and Miss Brooker

Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Leads