NO SCHOOL IS AN ISLAND Community Cohesion and PVE in Action

Kamal Hanif - Head Teacher Waverley School

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School Mission and Values

 Learning Through Diversity  Humanity  Equality  Aspiration  Respect

The Toolkit

 Leadership and Values  Teaching and Learning  Pupil support processes  Managing risks

School context

 Inner city – Small Heath area  Mixed secondary - 830 students  Very high FSM - above 65%  3rd highest with regards to deprivation factor  75% of population fall within 10% of most deprived super output areas.

Background

 Pakistani/Kashmiri- Mirpuri 46%  Bangladeshi 21%  Somali Other 26%  White 6%

What are seen as the barriers?

 Low incomes  Unemployment  Drugs  Single and lone parent families  Area of high deprivation  Students with EAL

Issues

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Parental Involvement Teachers lack of culture awareness Separation of Home & School

Living between two cultures

 NO

Are these really barriers?

              English Irish Pakistani Guyana French Kashmiri Jamaican Spanish Somali Norwegian Portuguese Ivory Coast Philippine Iraqi

Staff Heritage

Welsh Scottish Bengali Ukrainian German Nigerian Italian Indian South African Canadian Russian Iranian St Lucia

THE WAY FORWARD

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What can parents do? Raising Aspirations

- Parents need to create a vision for the future of their children in this country.

- Check homework diaries on a regular basis.

-Provide a table and chair in a quiet place in the house where their child can do his/her homework.

- Allow children to speak English (Dutch) more at home.

- Create a vision in their child's head; something that he/she can aim for.

THE WAY FORWARD

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What has the school done?

- Development of Cultural inclusion within all areas of the school.

- Introduction of Diversity Days - Cultural Inclusivity Training days.

- Provision of community languages.

- Provision of acts of Collective Worship for all Faiths (Assemblies, Prayers, Jummah…etc and restructuring school day

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THE WAY FORWARD targeted activities

What has the school done?

- empathetic development of certain specific curriculum areas, e.g. Citizenship, Sex and Relationships Education, ICE project (Islam in citizenship education) ( www.theiceproject.org.uk

) Improvements to school buildings/facilities e.g. working facilities - halal food/non-halal food International visits and links

THE WAY FORWARD

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What has the school done? Cont..

- Homework clubs - Make the school more welcoming for the community (displays, entrance area..) - Greater presence of teachers.

- Work closer with local faith groups and community groups.

- Try new methods of working closer with parents.

- Home school links through teaching assistants/ learning mentors and MEAP project

THE WAY FORWARD (cont.)

    Regular displays of religious and cultural festivals Music in reception from different cultural backgrounds Faith celebration events and meals for parents.

Developing stronger an ethos of listening and the technique of advocacy

Haiti Fund Raising Event

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Parents and school in Action to improve behaviour…

 Introduction of a new behaviour system. (Pupil Well being Programme)  Parental support – school visits, supporting students in class and in detention.

 Student Support managers

Community in Action

        Keeping up with the families and children Literacy classes Home school visits Transition family visits Audit of parental needs Parents views on school building and facilities Community library Heritage Project – Journeys to the future http://waverley.beyondtheschool.org.uk/

Empowering parents

Cohesion in Action the way forward… supporting individuals

        Anti Racism council Hear my voice project Police/Army/Navy Saturday attendance and rewards youth club Community Health and Nursery Young disciples Working with external agencies Valued youth

Recognising issues and breaking barriers

 Open door policy  Adopt a teacher  Links with schools in different contexts and exchanges  Monitoring systems for electronic data

Outcomes

Pupils understand that excellence is not restricted to the achievement of people from dominant cultures, but that people from all cultures and religions, today and past, achieve excellence.

Pupils know that most people have a range of affiliations, loyalties and sense of belonging.

Pupils understand that with every event there are a variety of perceptions, interpretations and perspectives.

Pupils have a strong sense of identity, feeling that they belong in Britain and that Britain belongs to them.

Pupils see diversity and differences as interesting and exciting.

Pupils understand that there are shared values across cultures, religions and that all people share common aspirations, needs and concerns.

Pupil’s viewpoints are explored and developed.

Pupils develop their critical thinking and analysis skills in order for them to make informed choices.

Pupils are skilled in challenging prejudices and stereotypes, racism, xenophobia, Islamaphobia, homophobia, disiability discrimination, injustice and unfairness.

Pupils understand and respect others.

Pupils self-esteem is enhanced.

Pupils understanding that the dominant culture in society is not ‘norm’ against which all other cultures are judged.

The successes

       ‘the children see themselves as local and global citizens’ OFSTED June 2007 Improvements in pupil attainment and attendance, now above national average Parents and community views of the school have improved Over 1000 students on waiting list Greater support of community with the school Highest achieving specialist school nationally for Jessen value added 5A*-C GCSE’s in 2009 Well below National Average number of students not in education, employment or training when leaving school

BEING CONFIDENT ENOUGH TO TACKLE THE CHALLENGES.

 BEING BRAVE ENOUGH NOT TO MAKE THE EASY DECISION!

contact

 www.waverley.bham.sch.uk

 E-mail – [email protected]