Sisters have been on my mind this week.
On Wednesday, I enjoyed a meeting with Megan from Year 12, who wanted to discuss her idea to deploy Sixth Formers as advisors and agony aunts to students in Year 9, 10 and 11 as they navigate the tricky GCSE years. Topics would include what you can really expect from subject courses; how to pace yourself over two years; how to keep your head when all about are losing theirs; and other top survival tips. This big sister mentoring scheme would revive the much-vaunted BLOBS scheme – the former name for what, over time, became the school’s Peer Supporter programme. While I had heard about the BLOBS, no-one had ever explained the acronym to me. Megan had the answer. BLOB stands for “Best Listeners Of Brighton”. I love it. We’ve hatched a plan to bring back the BLOBS this year.
Meanwhile, Mrs Telford has embarked on an action research project with the Global Action Research Collaborative and is exploring whether a mentoring scheme involving Year 6 and Year 8 students will help with transition to the Senior school. Research suggests that students with a big sister in the same school can have a positive impact on transition, so Mrs Telford is keen to put this to the test by creating a team of surrogate big sisters.
October has brought a special celebration of the sisterhood as we mark Black History Month. The theme for Black History Month 2023, ‘Saluting Our Sisters’, aims to celebrate the role black women have played in shaping history, inspiring change, and building communities. Over the last two weeks, it has been wonderful to see students taking part in a national poetry competition which has encouraged people to “express themselves creatively whilst discovering the diverse experiences, challenges, and victories of black women”. Last week, Lexi in Year 6 sent me the poem she has written about former England netball player, Pamela Cookey. As some of you will remember, Pamela came to run a coaching session with our netballers last year and delivered an inspiring talk in the Hive. Through this connection, I have been able to send Lexi’s poem directly to Pamela – a personal and powerful way to salute a sister and role model.
On Monday, we welcomed Jo Cresswell, one of our governors, into school for a special assembly to mark Black History Month. In preparation for the assembly, Jo had been posed the question: if you were to write a poem about someone who had inspired you, who would it be? Jo chose Eartha Kitt, the American singer and actress who, as Jo said, was bold, brave and fearless throughout her career. Born in North Carolina to a mother of Cherokee and African descent and a white father, Eartha overcame early rejection from within her own family to rise to prominence in a world of discrimination and prejudice and become an icon of the stage and screen. Throughout her career, Eartha used her distinctive singing voice to amplify the voices of black women. In assembly, we heard ‘Paint Me Black Angels’ (1970), or ‘Angelitos Negros’, a ballad originally written by the Mexican artist Pedro Infante. The speaker asks why there are no black angels depicted in churches (“Painters painting halos/Pictures of only white angels”) and asks directly: “Painter/ If you paint with love/Paint me some black angels now”.
This question of representation is a question that comes up frequently when I speak to students and staff, particularly when reflecting on the lack of diversity within the teaching profession. As a community, we champion diversity and are actively committed to becoming more diverse as an organisation, an endeavour that is underpinned by the GDST’s Undivided Charter for Action.
We recognise how important it is for members of our student community to see themselves reflected in our staff body. Over the last year, we have developed the recruitment pages on our website to include a clear statement that “our aim is to have a workforce that represents the vibrancy and diversity of our students and wider society” and tell stories like that of Ms Labeeb, our Business Support Assistant, who wrote a piece about her Sudanese heritage. It will take time to affect real change in this area, but we are making progress.
Through joining such groups as our Allies Club and Faith Council, I know that our students will continue to share their experiences and point us towards areas where we can continue to improve. As Ms Labeeb expressed it in her description of Sudan,
“To me, this is what community is. It’s about opening doors to help others”.
