Effectively challenging racism in schools

The resource provides a policy and guidance framework to support challenging racism in school and college settings.

The resource covers the definitions of racism, prejudice and bullying in detail, and examines the impact of racist bullying directly on the individual and the wider community.

It emphasises the role of the whole-school community to promote inclusivity. Specifically, the resource covers:

• early intervention and prevention
• how to recognise racist bullying
• how to manage a racist bullying incident
• the use of language, staff training and inclusive policies and procedures.

The resource also provides information on relevant policy and legislation, as well as how to incorporate restorative and solution-oriented practice in your setting.

Using this resource

This resource is designed for:

• use by mental health leads working with students aged 5 to 19+.
• use by staff working in primary schools, secondary schools, and colleges (sixth form and further education), all-through, alternative provision.

Please note that this resource is from a Scottish organisation and uses Scotland-specific examples and references. However, the guidance is relevant to schools across the UK, and can be used by staff to help guide their response to racism in their setting.

Learning outcomes

This resource addresses the following learning outcomes:

• Use knowledge to effectively communicate a positive values-based approach and to promote openness and understanding to normalise mental health and its fluctuations throughout life.
• Connect different policies and processes (equality & diversity, bullying & harassment, behaviour and safeguarding) to ensure they are working together to support wellbeing.