REPRESENTATION MATTERS

Conversations around equality and diversity are at the heart of the Archer Group — a team of students and staff passionate about bringing positive change to Emanuel, writes Mr Andrews...

Actions

The Archer Advisory Group (named in honour of John Richard Archer, former Mayor of Battersea and the first black person to hold a senior public office in London) was established in June 2020 as an important voice within Emanuel School. The group is made up of school staff — from across all employee positions — and pupils of different ages and backgrounds. Its task is to review the school’s curriculum, structures and population through the lenses of the diverse members of the Emanuel community.

The group audits changes already made within the school, as well as devising and advising on new approaches. It has a specific focus on the ways in which we provide both education and a safe space in which to raise, discuss and act upon ideas or concerns regarding race, anti-racism and forms of inequality and representation in society. Each meeting includes pupil-chaired discussion and staffpupil dialogue. At the time of writing, there are currently 26 pupil members and 13 staff members of the Archer Group.

Aims

To genuinely care for each other, stand up for others and be honestly educated in matters of race, anti-racism, inequality and human rights.

We endeavour to review school policy and practice to ensure equality and inclusiveness in its application to all members of the pupil and staff body; to ensure the experiences of all groups within the school community are reflected in the curriculum; to identify opportunities for greater diversity and inclusion at school; to help catalyse new initiatives to celebrate and promote diversity and inclusion; to identify instances of inequality and unnecessary barriers of entry to different people and to develop strategies to remedy this; and to provide opportunities for groups of pupils, staff or parents to be heard.

Archer Group Initiatives

Academic departments including English, History, and Geography have redrafted curricula, to include compulsory study of diverse authors each year and foregrounding of the British Empire and the slave trade on the Year 9 curriculum.

As part of the activities days at the end of the summer term 2021, pupils in Years 6-10 took part in an exciting range of activities related to the theme of ‘Culture and Community’. This evolved from the work of the Archer Group which itself has played a central role in the ongoing dialogue regarding race and diversity at our school.Whether discovering an Indian grave in Battersea Rise cemetery, engaging in Japanese meditation or joining a workshop on music and migration, the two days presented an invaluable opportunity for our pupils to have fun whilst discovering more about Clapham’s wonderfully diverse community.

In November 2021, local historian, Sean Creighton, was invited to give a talk to the Sixth Form, introducing students to John Archer, memorialisation, and problems involved in researching, and publicising the Black Atlantic. We were similarly engaged by Mr Martin of the Physics Department, who talked to the group about antisemitism (including the microaggressions he had experienced as a pupil). Another fascinating event saw the group discuss the 2021/22 report by the University of Birmingham, ‘Islamophobia in the UK’, in which pupils considered how we, as a school, might help to challenge anti-Islamic prejudice. The school librarian, Mr Jones, subsequently produced a ‘Positive Muslim Voices’ reading list and presented its contents to the group.

The Archer Group was also very pleased that Christo Brand, former warder of Robben Island Prison, agreed to talk to the Emanuel community from his home in South Africa. Christo shared a living testimonial of Nelson Mandela’s time in prison and his release. He is one of a select few who can offer authentic insights into Mandela’s thoughts, reflections and hope for humanity. It was a truly inspiring story. Christo was Mandela’s warder for 12 years and became a close friend of his — right up until his death in 2013.

It was clear to all that ‘Black History Week 2021’ was a hugely positive experience. The pupils and staff of the Archer Group curated a varied and inspiring programme of events. Members of the Emanuel community were encouraged to debate the efficacy of reparations paid by the west for slavery, hear inspirational and moving testimony from Christo Brand, Floella Benjamin and

Patrick Hutchinson, study the life experiences of local author Alex Wheatle, analyse James Baldwin’s 1974 masterpiece, If Beale Street Could Talk, and witness the story of three female African American mathematicians playing a pivotal role in the 1960s American space programme via the 2016 film, Hidden Figures.

In the words of the The Rt Hon The Lord Paul Boateng of Akyem and Wembley, this has been ‘a good opportunity to reflect on what needs to be done in order to ensure that our education is a system fit for purpose. The challenge is to prepare by a policy of inclusion rather than exclusion for all young people to thrive in a diverse and multi polar world in which no region or race holds sway over the others.’ Whilst taking pride in the response of our community to this annual focus on black history, we are all of course mindful that this must be viewed as an ongoing process, far too important to be confined merely to one week or indeed one month a year.