Our Anti-Racism Journey

At Mile Oak we recognise that it is not enough to be ‘not racist’. We must be anti-racist. This is evidenced through systemic change which means looking at our policies, practice and procedures, challenging ourselves with the questions, ‘are these actively anti-racist? Are we actively creating equitable voice, outcomes, and value for our Black & Racially Minoritised families? If not, why not and what needs to change?'

We stand by the belief that “one either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of 'not racist.’ The claim of ‘not racist’ neutrality is a mask for racism.” (From the book ‘How To Be An Antiracist’, Ibram Kendi, 2019)

We say that we are on an anti-racist journey as we acknowledge this to be ongoing and continual work.

Please see below for the process that we use to respond to racist or prejudice incidents.

All of our children take part in a series of PSHE lessons based on two topics – “Good To be Me” and “Growing an Anti-Racist School.” These lessons have been devised and written by a group of Anti-Racist lead teachers, employed by the Brighton and Hove City council, along with the PSHE team and are informed by the Brighton and Hove City Council’s Primary Racial Literacy Curriculum Framework. Anti-racist education, like all our equalities education, is always appropriate to pupils’ ages and stages of development and is an essential part of safeguarding. 

All teachers at Mile Oak have been trained in Racial Literacy themselves and have had further training on how to deal with questions around race and racism.