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Mark Walker made this Freedom of Information request to Greenwich Borough Council
The request was successful.
From: Mark Walker
12 December 2009
Dear Sir or Madam,
By letter of 30 September 2009, The Secretary of State Ed Balls
appointed Maurice Smith to enquire into the "promotion of racism in
schools". Part of the review is aimed at determining whether
members of the British National Party (BNP) should be allowed to
work as teachers or in the wider school workforce.
At present there are a number of measures and safeguards in place
in place to protect children and young people in schools from
racially motivated discrimination and the promotion of political
doctrines that advocate discrimination and promote racist views.
These are:
• The requirement on schools to have equal opportunity policies
• The duty upon schools to promote racial equality
• Their duty to promote community cohesion
• The duty on governing bodies, headteachers and local authorities
to forbid the teaching of partisan political activities in schools
• The powers of the GTC (England) regarding suitability of
registration and where teacher conduct could bring the profession
into disrepute
I would like you to provide me with evidence of how effective these
measures are including whether they are sufficient to maintain
trust in the profession and protect children and young people.
Please provide the following information under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.
1) What evidence is there that schools’ equal opportunity policies
are effective in combating racism?
2) What are schools in your area doing to promote racial equality
and promote community cohesion? Examples of measures deemed to be
good practice and recognised as being successful would be useful.
3) Can you provide me with any evidence that the measures listed
above have been effective (if this has not already been done)?
4) Are further measures required to either maintain trust in the
teaching profession or protect children and young people?
Yours sincerely
Mark Walker
Solidarity Trade Union
www.solidaritytradeunion.org
From: Alan Soskin
Greenwich Borough Council
4 January 2010
Dear Mr Walker
I am writing in response to your request for information under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000. Our response is attached.
Yours sincerely,
Alan Soskin
Corporate Information Manager, Greenwich Council
Human Resources & Organisational Improvement
4th floor, Riverside House, Woolwich High Street, London SE18 6BU
Tel: 020 8921 5084
show quoted sections
Greenwich Council: Carrying the torch for Greenwich.
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From: Stuart Godfrey
Greenwich Borough Council
7 January 2010
Dear Mr Walker
RFI 1806
I am writing in response to your request for information under the Freedom
of Information Act 2000.
Please find our answers to your questions below:
Q.1 What evidence is there that schools' equal opportunity policies are
effective in combating racism?
Schools have a full range of policies including equal opportunities
policies either as part of their Inclusion policy or as a separate
policy .
Effectiveness in combating racism: - Ofsted reports/ SIPs/ LA Lead
officers; Data on racial incidents .
Q.2 What are schools in your area doing to promote racial equality and
promote community cohesion? Examples of measures deemed to be good
practice and recognised as being successful would be useful.
o Schools embrace their duty to promote racial equality, cultural
diversity and community cohesion and are accountable for this to the
Local Authority and to Ofsted.
o Citizenship education (within the framework of the National Curriculum
(NC) promotes responsibilities and respect and good race relations
between members of different groups and communities and as a means of
addressing racism
o Greenwich Schools Racist Incident Report and Information guidance
ensures that each year schools are required to submit information for
the LA to monitor and take action as appropriate
o Year on year schools are charged with narrowing the attainment gaps -
by Free School Meals (FSM), gender, and ethnicity to increase the
opportunities for all pupils in Greenwich to reach their potential and
to contribute to their own success and that of the community in which
they live
o Links with parents by schools is now a requirement so that feedback
can be used to inform school improvement plans
o Pupil Voice involves school council activity and the Tellus Survey so
that we listen to what pupils tell us about what helps most in their
lives and learning
o National strategies programmes and initiatives (e.g. GRT History
month, Holocaust Memorial, BHM) are undertaken in schools to use
powerful lessons from history as a means of promoting cohesion
o Extended schools initiatives, including PE and sports is an active
means of enabling a community to meet, share and celebrate their
identities, joint efforts and success
Q.3 Can you provide me with any evidence that the measures listed above
have been effective (if this has not already been done)?
. Ofsted reports
. LA School Improvement Partners/ LA Lead officers' visits
. Inclusion - Behaviour and Attendance LA profile of schools
. Data from the Children's Services Information, Research and
Statistics team
Q.4 Are further measures required to either maintain trust in the teaching
profession or protect children and young people?
Continuing CPD for the workforce with regards to Race equality, community
cohesion and combating the influence of extremism
Key issues for LA:
Keep under review the performance of schools and that they meet the
requirements placed on them.
I hope this information helps.
Regards
Stuart Godfrey
Deputy Head of Communications
Greenwich Council
show quoted sections
Greenwich Council: Carrying the torch for Greenwich.
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