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| ‘Would you say that word in a Chinese takeaway?’: schools fight racism head-on | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| In a classroom at the Sacred Heart primary school in Hartlepool, tables have been moved aside and chairs arranged in a big circle. There’s a palpable air of excitement. Olivier Bernard, a former Newcastle United player, is in the building, and in a few hours’ time will take year 6 for a fitness class. | In a classroom at the Sacred Heart primary school in Hartlepool, tables have been moved aside and chairs arranged in a big circle. There’s a palpable air of excitement. Olivier Bernard, a former Newcastle United player, is in the building, and in a few hours’ time will take year 6 for a fitness class. |
| Justine King, who is leading this morning’s session, is patient – “Yes, I’m sure you can get his autograph” – but first there’s business to be done. King and Bernard are both education workers with the charity Show Racism the Red Card, and they’re leading a full-day anti-racism workshop with years 5 and 6. | Justine King, who is leading this morning’s session, is patient – “Yes, I’m sure you can get his autograph” – but first there’s business to be done. King and Bernard are both education workers with the charity Show Racism the Red Card, and they’re leading a full-day anti-racism workshop with years 5 and 6. |
| The class is soon deep in discussion about acceptable and unacceptable words – those who think a particular word is racist have to stand up and swap seats when it’s mentioned. | The class is soon deep in discussion about acceptable and unacceptable words – those who think a particular word is racist have to stand up and swap seats when it’s mentioned. |
| “When you go out to get a Chinese takeaway, is it racist to say you’re going to the Chinkies?” About two-thirds think it is; the rest that it isn’t. Part of the class moves seat. One boy puts up his hand, hesitant: “There’s a Chinese shop on the corner of my street, and usually I say I’m going to the Chinese shop …” | “When you go out to get a Chinese takeaway, is it racist to say you’re going to the Chinkies?” About two-thirds think it is; the rest that it isn’t. Part of the class moves seat. One boy puts up his hand, hesitant: “There’s a Chinese shop on the corner of my street, and usually I say I’m going to the Chinese shop …” |
| “Does anyone say Chinkies?” | “Does anyone say Chinkies?” |
| A couple of tentative hands go up. “Would you use that word inside the takeaway?” Heads shake. “Why not? … That’s right. It’s a racist word that’s been used to make Chinese people feel bad.” | A couple of tentative hands go up. “Would you use that word inside the takeaway?” Heads shake. “Why not? … That’s right. It’s a racist word that’s been used to make Chinese people feel bad.” |
| Hartlepool’s schools have one of the lowest proportions of ethnic minority pupils in the country but, says King, the Brexit campaign has changed attitudes in this region, with a new sense that it’s OK to express racist views. | Hartlepool’s schools have one of the lowest proportions of ethnic minority pupils in the country but, says King, the Brexit campaign has changed attitudes in this region, with a new sense that it’s OK to express racist views. |
| “Brexit legitimised the racism – I feel there’s a gang mentality and there’s safety to say things people didn’t say before. It’s always been there, but it hasn’t risen to the surface in the way we have seen now,” King says. | “Brexit legitimised the racism – I feel there’s a gang mentality and there’s safety to say things people didn’t say before. It’s always been there, but it hasn’t risen to the surface in the way we have seen now,” King says. |
| At Sacred Heart, a 450-pupil school with a wide catchment area and a relatively low proportion of children on free school meals, the pupils are eager to show their tolerance, and staff emphasise that racist incidents are very rare. | At Sacred Heart, a 450-pupil school with a wide catchment area and a relatively low proportion of children on free school meals, the pupils are eager to show their tolerance, and staff emphasise that racist incidents are very rare. |
| Around the country there have been reports of a spike in race hate crime since the EU referendum. In Hartlepool, 70% of those who voted favoured Brexit – but when King asks how that might affect the way some people are treated, most children look vague. “Sometimes because of the Brexit effect, some more racist things have happened,” King explains. | Around the country there have been reports of a spike in race hate crime since the EU referendum. In Hartlepool, 70% of those who voted favoured Brexit – but when King asks how that might affect the way some people are treated, most children look vague. “Sometimes because of the Brexit effect, some more racist things have happened,” King explains. |
| Show Racism the Red Card, which works with professional footballers, runs schools workshops around the country. These have taken on a new significance since the Brexit debate, says the charity’s education team manager for the north, Laura Pidcock. “Since the vote, there’s a sense that we will now start to control our borders,” she says. “When we went to a school in Newcastle a young person said: ‘You don’t need to come in here any more because we’re kicking all the immigrants out now.’ | Show Racism the Red Card, which works with professional footballers, runs schools workshops around the country. These have taken on a new significance since the Brexit debate, says the charity’s education team manager for the north, Laura Pidcock. “Since the vote, there’s a sense that we will now start to control our borders,” she says. “When we went to a school in Newcastle a young person said: ‘You don’t need to come in here any more because we’re kicking all the immigrants out now.’ |
| “We address that by asking the young people what is making them anxious, what’s contributing to their life not being good, and then help them to understand how the system works. So if they think asylum seekers get a house when they arrive, we teach them about how accommodation is really allocated.” | “We address that by asking the young people what is making them anxious, what’s contributing to their life not being good, and then help them to understand how the system works. So if they think asylum seekers get a house when they arrive, we teach them about how accommodation is really allocated.” |
| Northern Saints Church of England primary school in Sunderland is another school where the charity has worked, running a workshop with year 6 pupils just after the Brexit vote. The year 6 teacher, Jackie Shrubb, says the school has a workshop each year with the charity, “but this year our headteacher asked us to focus on migration. | Northern Saints Church of England primary school in Sunderland is another school where the charity has worked, running a workshop with year 6 pupils just after the Brexit vote. The year 6 teacher, Jackie Shrubb, says the school has a workshop each year with the charity, “but this year our headteacher asked us to focus on migration. |
| “By year 6, they’re seeing and hearing a lot at home and elsewhere, and we wanted to help them to realise they don’t just necessarily have to take the view they get from other people. They really enjoyed it – they could see migration wasn’t necessarily all negative, that there were lots of positives too.” | “By year 6, they’re seeing and hearing a lot at home and elsewhere, and we wanted to help them to realise they don’t just necessarily have to take the view they get from other people. They really enjoyed it – they could see migration wasn’t necessarily all negative, that there were lots of positives too.” |
| Figures published by the Department for Education show that primary schools are experiencing first-hand the changes in Britain’s ethnic makeup. Almost a third of primary pupils in England – 31% – are classified as being from ethnic minority backgrounds. In 2006 the figure was about 20%. | Figures published by the Department for Education show that primary schools are experiencing first-hand the changes in Britain’s ethnic makeup. Almost a third of primary pupils in England – 31% – are classified as being from ethnic minority backgrounds. In 2006 the figure was about 20%. |
| Population statistics show that while the birth rate fell among women born in the UK last year, the rate among women born elsewhere has risen – last year more than a quarter of live births were to women not born in Britain. So primary schools’ intakes are becoming more ethnically mixed. | Population statistics show that while the birth rate fell among women born in the UK last year, the rate among women born elsewhere has risen – last year more than a quarter of live births were to women not born in Britain. So primary schools’ intakes are becoming more ethnically mixed. |
| But despite the focus on migration during the Brexit campaign, many of the areas with the highest leave votes were among those with the lowest levels of ethnic change. Hartlepool’s primary school population has not risen since 2006, while its proportion of ethnic minority pupils has increased from 3% to just over 5.5%. | But despite the focus on migration during the Brexit campaign, many of the areas with the highest leave votes were among those with the lowest levels of ethnic change. Hartlepool’s primary school population has not risen since 2006, while its proportion of ethnic minority pupils has increased from 3% to just over 5.5%. |
| In inner London authorities such as Newham, Brent and Tower Hamlets, by contrast, about nine in 10 primary pupils are from ethnic minority backgrounds. Yet almost 60% of Londoners voted to remain in the EU. In the borough of Greenwich, which had one of the biggest rises in ethnic minority primary school pupils – from 50% to 70% between 2006 and 2016 – 56% of people who voted wanted to stay in the EU. | In inner London authorities such as Newham, Brent and Tower Hamlets, by contrast, about nine in 10 primary pupils are from ethnic minority backgrounds. Yet almost 60% of Londoners voted to remain in the EU. In the borough of Greenwich, which had one of the biggest rises in ethnic minority primary school pupils – from 50% to 70% between 2006 and 2016 – 56% of people who voted wanted to stay in the EU. |
| Statistics show children whose families suffer racist abuse are likely to do less well at school. An analysis of data from more than 2,000 ethnic minority participants in the Millennium Cohort Study found that many pupils whose mothers had experienced racism performed worse than others in spatial and non-verbal reasoning tests at age five – tests that predict GCSE results. | Statistics show children whose families suffer racist abuse are likely to do less well at school. An analysis of data from more than 2,000 ethnic minority participants in the Millennium Cohort Study found that many pupils whose mothers had experienced racism performed worse than others in spatial and non-verbal reasoning tests at age five – tests that predict GCSE results. |
| The study followed 19,000 children born in 2000-02 and found the effects occurred even when the researchers controlled for other relevant factors, such as social deprivation. | The study followed 19,000 children born in 2000-02 and found the effects occurred even when the researchers controlled for other relevant factors, such as social deprivation. |
| Yvonne Kelly, professor of life course epidemiology at University College London, says there’s a complex interplay between mothers’ experiences of racism, their impact on children in the home and poorer outcomes in the classroom. “Poor mental health among parents is linked to experience of racism. It’s linked to a whole lot of physical health problems, and in children there are linkages to learning. We know the children of parents with poor physical and mental health do less well. Racism is very common and it’s a problem in our society,” she says. | Yvonne Kelly, professor of life course epidemiology at University College London, says there’s a complex interplay between mothers’ experiences of racism, their impact on children in the home and poorer outcomes in the classroom. “Poor mental health among parents is linked to experience of racism. It’s linked to a whole lot of physical health problems, and in children there are linkages to learning. We know the children of parents with poor physical and mental health do less well. Racism is very common and it’s a problem in our society,” she says. |
| Back at Sacred Heart, King is drawing her session to a close. One of the keys to success, she says, is to focus on the positive – if children go home and tell their parents their language is racist that will be counterproductive. But they hope the sessions will have lasting effects, and they conduct focus groups with schools three months after the workshops to look at the impact. | Back at Sacred Heart, King is drawing her session to a close. One of the keys to success, she says, is to focus on the positive – if children go home and tell their parents their language is racist that will be counterproductive. But they hope the sessions will have lasting effects, and they conduct focus groups with schools three months after the workshops to look at the impact. |
| “One boy told me he’d gone to the local corner shop and found out the owner’s name was Ali. He came back to school and said: ‘So now we have to call it Ali’s shop’. It’s a little step, but it might make a big difference in Ali’s life.” | “One boy told me he’d gone to the local corner shop and found out the owner’s name was Ali. He came back to school and said: ‘So now we have to call it Ali’s shop’. It’s a little step, but it might make a big difference in Ali’s life.” |