Anti-Racism Curriculum

Our Anti-Racism Curriculum Journey at PDCS

In January 2020 we had cluster training with Empathy Lab. We could see a way of using texts to develop empathy skills and the feeling of safety that pupils need in order to learn and thrive. We decided to begin the new year not with a new year’s resolution but one word to take forward into the new year ‘Empathy’. We wanted this word to be on the lips of pupils and all members of staff as we entered a new year and a new chapter in our school.

Mrs Thomas launched the empathy project with an assembly on the difference between empathy and sympathy and ensured our pupils were aware that empathy wasn’t just a topic it was forming part of the ethos of our school. Our next step was to join together for a  whole school topic which we called ‘Don’t hate, educate’.

We looked at the incidents of racism across the school and within the community and could immediately see the need to address this as a whole school. We wanted our pupils to have the skills to question what they were seeing not just to accept it. We purchased a huge range of diverse empathy texts and used these to help us plan our topic. 

We used a range of texts including ‘Sulwe’ by Lupita Nyong’o to explore the differences and similarities between people. It was amazing to hear the discussions between our youngest pupils connecting with the text and beginning to put themselves in other people’s shoes. 

The upper school worked on texts connected to refugees including the beautiful book ‘The day the war came’ by Nicola Davies. They used this to collaborate and create a film journey of a refugee while Year 3 looked at different world religions through a range of texts.

Empathy Lab linked us with the authors Onjali Rauf and Rashmi Sirdeshpande so that our pupils could meet them virtually. They learnt how authors are able to weave empathy through their texts and how they build character. Exploring these empathy texts enabled our pupils to build their literacy skills but also their social and emotional skills. In terms of social activism our pupils were able to question many things that they were seeing and hearing at the time in the community and in the news. It really deepened their sense of empathy and also their solidarity with people facing inequality on a daily basis.

The subjects that we covered were ones that we previously felt that we would not have discussed but we knew that in order to create a culture shift and an air of social activism that they needed to be discussed. Using texts as a starting point was perfect in order to develop the feeling of safety that pupils need in order to learn and explore. If a book has a message, we don't shy away from discussing the message in order to improve pupils emotional literacy. 

Report on EmpathyLab's Schools Programme in Wales 2020-21.pdf

We were proud to be nominated in 2022 for the Professional Teaching Awards Cymru and were a finalist in the Betty Campbell category for promoting the contributions and perspectives of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities. 

The nomination was for an individual, team or school/college that had demonstrated an excellent awareness of the importance of an inclusive education as part of a society that confronted and addressed racism, and could evidence the delivery of clear outcomes. We were proud to be runners up in this category and promote our Anti-racism journey.

https://www.gov.wales/professional-teaching-awards-cymru/2022-awards/pembroke-dock-community-school

DARPL-Creating-an-Anti-Racist-Culture-in-Schools-A-Practical-Guide-for-School-Leaders-in-Wales-.pdf

We then began working with Diversity and Anti-Racist Professional Learning (DARPL). DARPL brings together a diverse team of providers with lived and professional experience through a professional learning and resource hub with a Welsh perspective in raising multi-disciplinary racial consciousness, as we all work together within the New Curriculum for Wales. Their team visited PDCS with other school leaders from across Wales. 

In January 2023 we contributed to the DARPL guide - Creating an Anti-Racist Culture in Schools – A Practical Guide for School Leaders in Wales. The aim of the document is to support senior leaders in schools in Wales to create an anti-racist culture within their school communities.  The document has been categorised into five areas: Governance and Leadership, School Environment/Hidden Curriculum, Parents, Carers and Community Partnerships, Professional Learning and Development, and Pedagogy and Curriculum. 

Continuing our Anti-Racism journey in 2024 we have carried out a series of Professional Learning sessions with Karen Brooke from Oshun Education/DARPL on Decolonising the Curriculum. Decolonisation is about challenging and changing a Eurocentric curriculum which does not recognise the heritage, achievements and history of African and Asian people and tells a partial and inaccurate account of British history.   

Decolonisation within education expands the opportunities to acknowledge and raise global awareness. We are currently embracing this change and aim to  provide an enriched and engaging curriculum for ALL learners and positively influence social justice for future generations.

The next step in our Anti-Racism curriculum journey was joining the DARPL Advocacy Network in September 2024. The DARPL Advocacy Network (DAN) is a National and Global community of practice for learning organisations who are committed to progressive anti-racist leadership through an embedded whole learning organisation approach. DAN supports and facilitates the development and sharing of excellent anti-racist practice. DAN is committed to supporting the Anti-racist Wales Action Plan (ArWAP) working in collaboration to help make Wales an anti-racist nation by 2030 through a continuum of high quality anti-racist professional learning for all education providers in Wales.

We have created a DAN action plan for the academic year which includes:

We are part of the Swansea regional cluster of DARPL schools and look forward to sharing our continued journey with you.

https://darpl.org/community-of-practice/advocacy-network/