Equality and Diversity at Wallace Fields Junior School

At Wallace Fields Junior School, we strive to promote equality, understanding and celebrate multi-culturalism in all its forms through our PSHE sessions, assemblies, choice of literature, international links to schools and our multi-cultural days. We feel it is important to reflect upon the injustices and inequalities that are present across the world and help create an anti-racist society by providing an education for our children.  
 
In September 2020, Christiana Owolabi and Miss Marriage held discussions on anti-racism and inclusion. The aim is to empower the children by learning about the skills and tools required to create an anti-racist and inclusive society, which celebrates diversity in all its forms. 
 
October is Black History Month in the UK, an event that has been celebrated nationwide for more than 30 years. Throughout the year, we believe it is important to acknowledge the historical context of Black History and celebrate the contributions that black people have made over many generations. 
 
At Wallace Fields Junior School, we feel it is important to celebrate different heritages, cultures, faiths, abilities and genders throughout the year by using a variety of literature, assemblies, PSHE, geography, music, art, geography, history, and Faith and Philosophy discussions to develop the children’s knowledge and understanding of the world around them.  

Here is our Equality policy. 

Wallace Fields Junior School prides itself in its strong inclusive values and ethos. Click here to go to our Inclusion/SEND page.  Click here for our values page. 

Black History Month

Black History month is an important time to remember and celebrate the contributions of the black community for UK and the world. WFJS children have been learning about the culture, history and traditions of black people across the world. 

Here is what we did in our year groups:

In Year 4, we learned about the life and work of Nelson Mandela and his remarkable legacy. Children studied about his contribution to South Africa and the world. We discussed some of his life quotes (It only takes one person to change the world) and explained what they meant for us. We also created artwork to celebrate the Rainbow Nation using impressionistic techniques and shirt designs to create something Madiba would have liked. Mrs. Curran shared various personal stories with the children about her experiences of growing up in South Africa and when she met Mandela. Finally, we created goals for ourselves and thought about which character traits we may need to achieve these whilst taking inspiration from Madiba - his kind and brave soul. 

In Year 3, we have been celebrating Black History Month by learning about some inspirational people throughout history. This includes George Washington Carter, Barak Obama and Mae Jemison. We have been reflecting on their contributions to society and their achievements. In the new term, we will be creating poems about a famous sportsman or sportswomen through black history. 

In Year 5, we have been looking at inspirational figures within STEM from the Black community. These included: Mae Jemison, Frank Chinegwundoh and Alice Ball. After researching and collating information about their successes and influential discoveries in the world of science and maths, we produced fact files and Google Slides to present to the rest of Year 5 on one significant figure. We have considered how these figures have impacted science and maths today through thoughtful reflections.

In Year 6, we have been considering inspirational black women from Britain, their impact on both the country in which they lived and on the wider society around them. We talked and learned about incredible women such as Mary Prince, Lashana Lynch, Lilian Bader, Nicola Adams- amongst others! The children chose their most inspirational woman, researched key information about their lives and created a biographical blog post about them. They also had to consider what our country or society would have been like without these inspirational women - and they were brilliant in their research, writing and considerations!

Diversity Day