Doing Ramadan Differently - A Non-Muslim HT perspective

I'm honest, with myself and others, that the events of Summer 2020 with the murder of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matters protests definitely were the catalyst/trigger for me as a school leader to do some genuine reflection on my own role in upholding systemic, institutional racism. I wish I could say I had been truly alert to it before hand, but I hadn't.

I knew I was being reactive, and I had to own that. I could - and can - only prove to my community that my committment is authentic and sincere by it being SUSTAINED over time. So yes, I was having individual conversations and staff briefings about it in June 2020 but I explained that I wanted to STILL be having those conversations in September, December, March, July and so forth. There is another blog post to write about our wider approach to genuinely improving our practices in all areas of equality, diversity, inclusion and anti-racism and how we've continued to have these conversations over time.

Right now, I'd like to zoom in one on aspect: how my interaction with Ramadan has been different this year.

In June 2020, I had phone calls (covid!) with all our BAME colleagues to check in with them about how they were doing in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and BLM protests. An interesting theme emerged from those early, initial conversations about what my school could be doing better with regards to equality and diversity: celebrations. One wise TLA said something like "you want to feel like you're sharing these celebrations with others" and it absolutely resonated with me. Even if you only have a few pupils or staff members celebrating Divali or Hannukah or Eid, you don't want them to feel like they're celebrating alone. In fact, isn't it more important if it's "only a few" members of your community?

What has my engagement with Ramadan and Eid been like in previous years?

Minimal: some acknowledgement of the challenges fasting pupils might face (particularly in terms of sitting exams) and some circulation of information through assembly or form time.

What has been different this year?

• • I read a few brilliant blog posts at the start of Ramadan explaining how schools could support fasting pupils and students - this one by @5Naureen and this one by @shuaibkhan26 were really useful.

  • I circulate a weekly L&T bulletin of links on all manner of things, but the bulletin I circulated for the return to school on the 19th April was focused entirely on Ramadan, sharing the above blogs but also information for staff and students too:

• • In staff briefing after the Easter holidays, I circulated a short Microsoft Form to find out who was fasting, and what might we do to support.

• • I responded to this feedback and actioned the reasonable adjustments.

  • I explained in staff briefing, that I would be participating in the #ShareRamadan day this year. I learnt about this from Amjad Ali (@TeachLeadAAli) last year but didn't join in. #ShareRamadan or #BIGSHARERAMADAN is one day during Ramadan (Fri 30th April this year) during which non-Muslims fast. My motivations were two fold: (a) curiousity: the experience and significance of this process and holy month to Muslims and (b) in solidarity with my Muslim friends, colleagues and students. I invited other staff to join in too and there was a group of four of us who did so in the end. More about the day below.

  • Two of our Muslim colleagues prepared their own information about Ramadan and Eid and circulated it to the school community, I love that staff have the confidence to do this and know it will be received with warmth.

  • Inspired by @TeacherGlitter, our fantastic art teacher @cahline 4 did a beautiful Ramadan lanterns project and displayed these on our front doors on the 30th April.

My #ShareRamadan Experience and Takeaways

• • I loved it! It felt like a real 'event' and I have nothing but respect for Muslim friends who do this for 30 days in a row: wow!

  • It humbled me about hunger: I was 'okay' but so much of that was because I was counting down until 8.21pm AND I did have a big meal at 3.20am. I kept thinking: what if I didn't know when I'd get to break this 'fast?' It spurred me to donate money to charity which I understand many Muslims do during this month.

  • I felt really bonded with the other 3 colleagues who were doing the day with me - I can absolutely see the huge solidarity that the global Muslim community must feel during this month and the strength they draw from it.

  • This act, small as it was, really meant something to my Muslim colleagues; their pride and reaction kept me going. I was even lucky enough to be furnished with dates (traditional), diet coke (not traditional but very me!) and delicious food to break my fast with (Iftar).

None of the above is revolutionary, but I hope it's a case of, ' important journeys start with small steps.'