Race Equality Pledge

Good Shepherd Catholic Primary School sits within the parish of Good Shepherd Church and the ward of Downham, where 46.5% of residents are from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic backgrounds. This is reflected in the diverse pupil population, which is comprised of 24 different ethnic groups with 34 languages being spoken by our families. All cultures represented within the school are proudly celebrated.

 As Archbishop John Wilson stated, “Racism is incompatible with the Catholic Faith… Our Catholic Faith does more than condemn racism; it also calls us to challenge racism, to eliminate its causes, and to heal the wounds it brings. We each have a part to play in this, first by making sure that we always think of every other person as someone worthy of respect. We must uphold the rights, the equality, and the sanctity of every human life. To God, and to us, every life is a gift and irreplaceable. We affirm that every person’s life matters and that the life of every black person matters.”

“We are committed to making sure that our parishes, schools, and communities are places where everyone is welcomed, where everyone is affirmed, where everyone is encouraged; where everyone is respected for the person God has created them to be and for the person God is calling them to become… There is no place for racism. Let us work side by side to make it part of our history, not part of our present or of our future together.”

 We also welcome our duties under the Equality Act and the combined equality duty. We understand the principal of the act and the work needed to ensure that those with protected characteristics are not discriminated against and are given equality of opportunity. We are committed to closing the attainment gap for all underachieving groups, enabling all children to achieve their full potential. In doing so we support Lewisham’s Embedding Race Equality Pledge.

Embedding Race Equality - Pledge

As a Lewisham school, we are publicly signing up to a pledge to Embed Race Equality and address Black Caribbean heritage and Black and Minority Ethnic under achievement.

This will entail a commitment to:

• Targeting ambitious outcomes for Black Caribbean heritage and Black and Minority Ethnic pupils.
• Reducing exclusions of Black Caribbean heritage pupils at all ages.
• Leaders and governors taking a whole school approach to embedding race equality.
• Transparent reporting and sharing of borough wide data trends.
• Working together in new ways and sharing good practice to embed race equality in our school cultures and curriculum.
• Actively developing high quality relationships with Black Caribbean heritage and Black and Minority Ethnic pupils and their parents.
• Improving Black representation in school leadership and governing bodies
• Lewisham schools holding each other to account. Lewisham Learning and Lewisham Council will internally support and challenge, including reporting annually to the Council, on the progress that is being made across Lewisham.