Skip to content ↓

Charter for Action: NSG response to BLM

Our School Statement in response to Black Lives Matter

Northampton School for Girls really is a family. The sense of community and support that this brings to our pupils and staff is fundamental to our values of ‘Respect’, and diversity and equality sit firmly at the heart of this.

From its inception in 1915, Northampton School for Girls has recognised and celebrated everyone as individuals and has also understood the power of the community. Our students and staff support each other unconditionally, embrace each other’s differences and celebrate each other’s successes. This is one of the elements that makes NSG truly special.

Our school was founded on the principles of inclusion and equality. We will remain ever true to these founding principles and will continue to lead the way in promoting equality:

  • Our school community is based on an ethos of mutual respect; respect for self, respect for other respect for learning.
  • We do not tolerate discrimination, victimisation or racial harassment of any kind, and work hard to prevent these and tackle these if they occur.
  • We will speak out about inequality, discrimination and racism, recognising that this is key to tackling it; we welcome conversations with our students about these issues.

We stand united in showing our support for each other and for others at times of injustice.

 

It is important that we stand united in showing our support for each other and for others at times of injustice. We are, and always have been, a school that prides itself on inclusivity and we are wholeheartedly committed to equality and diversity, actively seeking to combat prejudice and racism in all its forms. It is important that education supports the eradication of discrimination and prejudice in all its forms.

All schools have a duty to open eyes and minds to a more balanced, truthful telling of our history, including British history, which better informs our understanding of our present. It is important we create opportunities for difficult subjects to be discussed within a safe and supportive environment in our school and also that our curriculum reflects the cultural needs and experiences of all our students. Before the immediate increase in global awareness around Black Lives Matter, we were already engaged in activities promoting diversity and equality. We recognised through our students the importance of them feeling heard and of being proactive to gain the right outcome.

Charter for Action

It is our intention to approach this at a strategic level, coordinating the many different activities that are already taking place at NSG and creating visibility and efficiencies around this. We have recently formed a working group to develop an NSG ‘Charter for Action’ and we will be inviting students and staff to work together to see what more we can do as a school to actively engage with issues of inequality in all its forms. The Black Lives Matter movement has challenged us all, and social justice will be even more of a golden thread that runs through our work in the coming months and years.

Our position in school must be that we hold prejudice and discrimination as unacceptable and that every single one of us has a role in this. The school equality policy has meaning only if we make it responsive to real events. We want all our students to be active and caring citizens who are willing to challenge what they see as wrong, lacking or prejudicial in their own relationships and in society as a whole. We should help pupils to develop an understanding of the complexity of events that is based on full and correct information, an understanding of the law and an insight into the experience and feelings of others.

We will be sharing more details on updates as we progress with this strategy within our school. If you would like to find out more, or get involved in some way, please contact us on: admin@nsg.northants.sch.uk

Student Charter for Unity (CUE)

Hello everyone, 

My name is Nishi, and I am this year's Student Diversity Officer at NSG. My role encompasses representing the school on matters of diversity and equality, collating as well as generating ideas students have on improving inclusion in the school, and finding ways to implement them effectively. I do so by working with teachers, staff and external visitors.

My role is important because as we as a society and as a generation must continue to move towards being more inclusive and culturally aware. We are on a journey to achieve this and now more than ever are committed to this course of action. 

NSG believes it is everyone's responsibility to come together and stand for equality, diversity and inclusion: Our leadership, all staff, students, parents and the wider community.

 

It is under this I would like to formally announce the launch of our student 'Charter for Unity'.

Our 'Charter for Unity' outlines the following:

1. We believe all voices should be shared and heard,

2. We are committed to creating a wider school curriculum that supports the inclusion, promotion and achievement of all students.

3. The charter will aim to support the development of students, parents, staff and governors by providing high quality training, exciting opportunities and aspirational role modelling.

4. We will all aim to be upstanders instead of bystanders, committed to fairness, equality and respect, challenging unacceptable behaviour in school, locally and nationally.

 

I am proud to say we have already started this journey with lots of exciting activities and projects with students, staff and outside organisations and our work will be more visible as we move forward together.

I hope you are as excited as I am, and make sure to keep an eye out for opportunities to get involved in future exciting projects!

 Thank you, and make sure to check out the school website for more information in future.

You have not allowed cookies and this content may contain cookies.

If you would like to view this content please

Strategy Timeline Summer & Autumn 2021

Charter for Action (Staff)