Dame Alice Owens- Racial slurs

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Orangeblossom
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2018 10:45 pm

Dame Alice Owens- Racial slurs

Post by Orangeblossom »

I understand from a current DAO parent that there has been a protest at the school by students that have suffered from racial harassment from their peers. I was horrified to hear that students have been called the N word.
The headteacher has not been particularly supportive of the demonstration and there has not been any repercussions for the racist perpetrators- current year 10 students.

Loobylou, I know you have children at the school. Can you shed any further light?
Or any other current parents/students?
loobylou
Posts: 2032
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2014 5:04 pm

Re: Dame Alice Owens- Racial slurs

Post by loobylou »

We had an email expressing significant shock/concern/disappointment about what the students reported after the demonstration and clear intention of taking steps to investigate etc.
Both my children said that they had never heard any of the issues beforehand as did all their friends (very few of whom are white, fwiw). But both of them say that the current year 10 has a few troublemakers and they could imagine that they could be horrible in various ways.
It's surely a good thing there have been no repercussions yet - it happened on Friday and there is no way that they would have been able to do so the investigations yet.
I trust the school to investigate appropriately and to take sensible and strong actions against perpetrators.
Banany
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri May 16, 2014 11:00 pm

Re: Dame Alice Owens- Racial slurs

Post by Banany »

I would like to offer an alternative point of view.
I have been very worried about the ethos of the school in general since Ms Nemko took over as headmistress. The lovely, warm and nurturing environment and concern for students and their welfare that existed under Dr Davison seems to have disappeared.
The letter that came home from Ms Nemko did sort-of express concern about the reports, but also expressed concern that "no students had ever approached her or the teaching staff about it, but instead chose to protest". This is untrue. There was racist graffiti all over the year 10 blocks, reports of racist bullying had been made on numerous occasions (my child was there when a report was being made) and the protest was arranged by students of colour who are part of the BAME group who had simply had enough of their concerns not being addressed. The same sorts of bullying has happened frequently to the LGBTQ community at the school as well, which have also not been addressed.
So for Ms Nemko to act suddenly surprised that the school is protesting is a little disingenuous. I have not seen any action taken so far- quite the opposite, it looks like swift discipline may be doled out to those who dared to protest. Protect the teachers and the school's reputation at all costs. I am pretty sure that they read this forum as well, and will make speeches to the parents soon about "reporting concerns to the school first before reporting on social media" and "those who do not support teachers and work with the school".
Orangeblossom
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2018 10:45 pm

Re: Dame Alice Owens- Racial slurs

Post by Orangeblossom »

https://www.whtimes.co.uk/news/dame-ali ... st-7970784" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Looks the demonstration has made an impact and the headteacher is being forced to tackle the issues.
Last edited by Orangeblossom on Thu Jun 03, 2021 9:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Orangeblossom
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2018 10:45 pm

Re: Dame Alice Owens- Racial slurs

Post by Orangeblossom »

https://www.islingtongazette.co.uk/news ... ge-7972236" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Well done to the brave girls who were willing to voice their concerns and hopefully lead to some major changes in how the school tackles racism. If a work colleague called someone the N word, they would face disciplinary action. Children should not have to tolerate this behaviour in school either. The changes need to come from strong action from the head and school board.
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