Bloody hell, my local school had an open letter about institutional racism signed by over 900 pupils

[Rootsofgrey]

I was looking online for reviews for local secondary schools and found an open letter signed by over 900 pupils, listing examples of racism. The 900 comprised current and former pupils, but it was from a few years ago, so most are probably former now. That is a huge number. Do you think the school would have changed its spots by now? It was addressed to the current head.

Are you currently working in a school? A state school?
Learn their names.
Even if the children are not white.
That is the issue.

It's not patronising. It's advice.
Learn their names.
No matter what their heritage.
You wouldn't have got away with that at any school I worked in. Very much against our equality and diversity procedures.

I was a TA. Just above minimum wage for very skilled work. And expected to learn hundreds of kids names whilst working with the kids.

So you just learned the names of white children?
Ok.

Nobody knew. Truthfully I think expectations of people are sky high these days.

Lol that is NoT what I said and you know it. I said I got white kids names wrong at times, nobody cared. I wouldn't dare do that with a black or brown child so if I wasn't 109% sure if their name, I didn't use it.

They are very high indeed, quite rightly. I had a teacher colleague officially reprimanded for getting two Muslim students mixed up. It's not acceptable.

@PlumtoppedI hope so. It’s heartening you’re working with a school that’s actively responding to misogyny.

My local school stressed that parents should believe the school completely over the child.
Because of this attitude, it would be difficult for a child (or a parent) to discuss a concern about a systemic issue or a specific teacher (racism, misogyny, or anything).

I find it strange that a school is saying that, in 2026. Not my experience.
Yes, we're fighting misogyny. We've already suspended a boy for up skirting.

@Rootsofgrey please will you name the school so that readers can respond to your posts appropriately and better understand the context of the petition (which may be quoting some very historic examples of racism rather than recent examples).

You have name-changed so privacy concerns should not be an issue.

Even talking about my time as a TA makes me feel stressed. I am now paid more in an entry level job that is way easier and less stressful than being a TA. Being a TA used to be a nice job, but became a shit job where you basically had to teach the kids one to one who struggled the most, and work to try and calm the most disregulated kids, whilst covering teacher sickness, and all for just above minimum wage.

It's a tough job. I work with a couple of great TAs, but one I have reported, which is being followed up.
One of them is fantastic with the children with a high level of additional needs.

I got brilliant feedback and appraisals. But the job is too stressful and the skill levels needed to high for the level of pay.

Ok.

@scienceteachersarefunit is very strange.

Thanks for helping to tackle misogyny in your school and I hope that the girl in question is ok.

Thanks! It's very much ongoing. We have a programme to tackle the misogyny, which unfortunately has got worse in the last few years.
Not all the parents support this of course; the parents of this particular boy are challenging it, and the girl's version of events.
So many parents push back against these decisions and minimise what their child does, and the impact.
It's ongoing.

Another side to this.

We had something similar when the BLM movement crossed the ocean.

It was led by a group of pupils that had support by a couple of very polictical teachers.

They wrote a similar letter and then spent sometime going around, in their words, "asking" other pupils to sign it.

From the reports that we received from many of the other pupils, the "asking" was a form of bullying, accusations and threats, including that they would be reported to the teachers involved if they didn't sign.

It was a very messy and unhelpful time at the school and it caused no end of problems for the between the staff, for the staff and for the pupils.

Luckily we had a strong head at the time who managed to resolve the issues caused.

Sounds like you have your answer then ....

@FrippEnosthat’s concerning. People shouldn’t be pressured to sign.

Were the pupils able to cite specific instances?

Some have felt forced into signing things (not this school, and the students I know who said they were uncomfortable are not white, if that is relevant).

Agree with this comment

There were specifics but the problem is finding out if they actually happened.

We had a full investigation.
Several teachers left because of what was said about them even though no evidence of wrong doing was found.

It was an absolute mess, and in some case very vindictive.

In addition what was said about the teachers was said in the investigation and opened up more investigations.

I must have been living under a rock.

Is it B D by any chance...
I've heard before about restrictions on boys hairs styles being inherently racist.
Probably unconsciously but they really ought to educate themselves.