Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter Statement from the Sellincourt Community

This is a declaration of Sellincourt’s position in relation to Black Lives Matter and is something we want to share directly with our school community, as we recommit a unified drive to ensure that Black Lives Matter and equality holds fast at the centre of all that we do. 

To be clear, Sellincourt absolutely stands against racism and supports the values and ethos of Black Lives Matter. We continue to work towards embodying these values and this ethos.

As a school, and in support of the principles behind the Black Lives Matter movement, we recognise we have a role to play in sending a message that racism in all its forms can never be tolerated. Overt and covert racism exists and persists in society and we intend to play our part as best we can in changing this. To stand against racism means that all members of our community must be confident and bold enough to challenge racism and that we also continue to reflect on our own actions and behaviours.

We:

• Do not tolerate racism
• Adopt and act on anti-racist policies
• Encourage all members of our community to discuss ways we can eradicate racism
• Promote listening, reasoned engagement, and positive action in response to injustice, while condemning aggression and violence in all its forms
• Are an Equal Opportunities employer and do not tolerate any form of discrimination or harassment in our workplace

We will:

• Consider ways in which we can further educate our community so that its members are empowered to act against racism
• Engage further with those inside and beyond our community to understand their views and those of others on this topic
• Consider how we can amend our approach to further reflect our support for eradicating racial injustice
• We ask all in our community to join us in challenging racism and holding ourselves and others to account.

Our Values of Equality, Honesty, Responsibility, Respect and Kindness demand this.

We will repeatedly ask ourselves the following questions:

• What does our senior and governing body representation look like?
• What do our staff demographics look like?
• What and who does our curriculum represent?
• What outcomes do our black students get?
• Who feels like they belong - or don’t belong – in our school?
• What is the lived experience of our black staff and students at Sellincourt?

But we ask our Sellincourt community to join us on this journey in challenging racism and helping us to hold our school and ourselves to account.