Today we held a ‘Diversity Day’ in school to celebrate our own individual, unique differences. We want our students to be proud of who they are and stand tall with their heads held high with regard to who they are as a human being whilst also being kind, tolerant, respectful and compassionate about others that they perceive to be different to themselves.

Anyone who has planned such a day for 1200 plus students knows the immense amount of time, attention to detail and hard work that goes into making such a day a success and today was certainly a success, but it was also a bumpy ride to get to where we got to and some of it I definitely didn’t envisage.

First of all let me thank our brilliant staff. Every single member of staff today was fully involved in delivering sessions to their STEP group and ensuring they made it to various venues to listen to external speakers. For some staff that meant giving up PPA time, familiarizing themselves with sessions that had been planned by our brilliant Heads of Year and Anna Fenwick our Head of RE and PSE. They did so without complaint or grumble and embraced the whole diversity agenda. For other staff it meant delivering unfamiliar material that perhaps took them away from their normal subject area and a little out of their comfort zone but they did so willingly.

Our students were absolutely brilliant too. I had the pleasure of dropping in to many of those tutor sessions and I have to admit leaving one session in awe of one of our brilliant members of staff, Caroline Slane who was discussing the first same sex dance on Strictly Come Dancing and the reactions to this. The student responses were incredible- thoughtful, compassionate and completely in agreement that this was just normal. It was a beautiful dance by two talented people. At the same time, our Anti-bullying Ambassadors dropped in to introduce themselves and eloquently talk about their role in school and how they could support others. I have to admit leaving the session at the end to shed a few tears, at how incredibly proud I was of those students today.

The day itself included several sessions examining prejudiced language, what a hate crime actually is and exploring racial and gender prejudice. As well as these sessions led by tutors we had the pleasure of listening to Amjid Khazir from Media Cultured about his experiences as a British born Muslim growing up in Middlesbrough. A representative from Humankind also talked to students about homophobia. We had a flying visit from the police to talk about the consequences of hate crime. They will return a later date to discuss this with more students.

So where did the issues arise? – well of all sources- parents. Over the last few weeks we have had parents march into school and tell us that they weren’t allowing the students to take part in a day and talk to the “coach load of Muslims” we were bringing into school, and that they viewed the day as “a waste of time” We’ve had a complaint that the Head is running a Cult and yesterday I received an email asking for an agenda of today (no issues with this) but telling me not to water it down with a vague reply about diversity. I replied saying I had no intentions of watering the day down and was rightly proud of the day. I did receive an apology but sometimes it would be good if parents asked first if any clarifications were needed. Whilst this is just a small minority of parents, it clearly signifies a bigger issue about tolerance, respect, diversity and compassion in society. Where do students develop the majority of their views?- at home. One student today told us he was going to speak to his dad about using the word ‘gay’ as a slur and another said their mam wasn’t keen to let them attend school today. There were many other comments about home life too. Our attendance today dropped by 3%. We know that some parents kept their children off as they didn’t agree with the day. We find that incredibly sad. Quite simply today was about educating our children to be tolerant of others. It was a chance consider the views of others, discuss scenarios and look at case studies; it was a chance to develop character and become a more rounded human being. Sadly society dictates that sometimes it isn’t ok to be different or unique and a small minority of parents support that.

Finally, last night an anonymous Twitter account sprung up from a student who criticized the Head for drawing attention to those who are different. Whilst we are fairly certain we know who the account belongs to we simply feel saddened that a student feels that way. To us that means that we haven’t managed to get our school to where we want it. That student should be proud to celebrate who they are. We don’t see them as different. Like all of our students we see them as unique individuals who possess oceans of potential.

And to those students or anyone else who may ask well what do you know about prejudice? What abuse have you faced in life for being different? What do you know of being bullied? My answer is simply, I know some. There’ll be others who know a lot more. Here’s a little bit of my story. I adopted my daughter from birth so I am often perceived as being “different” because I didn’t give birth to her, I’ve been asked difficult questions about who her real parents are- I am her real parent! I’ve been asked would I not have preferred to have my own daughter- She is my own daughter! I’ve been told she’s lucky to have me- err I think I’m the lucky one! In truth, I’ve been asked and told so much more prejudiced rubbish, but… I’m really proud of who I am and comfortable in my own skin; all I can do is try to enlighten others. My role, like all of the other fantastic teachers at Fram is to help other students such as the anonymous twitter writer and all of our other students to be proud of who they are, to celebrate their “perceived” difference.

The small amount of negativity though shouldn’t detract from the enormous amount of positivity. Staff reported of students who were inquisitive, sensitive and passionate about what they saw and heard. I heard a response from a year 7 student who spoke in front of two hundred other students to share he just couldn’t understand why others couldn’t be kind to each other. His answer received a round of applause. I’m sure that there will be countless other examples of positive responses.

Thanks to everyone for making today such a success. We don’t think for one moment one day will successfully build an inclusive community. This is just one part of our journey. Fram students you should be proud of yourselves, because I know we’re proud of you.