Like all organisations, schools and academies are legally required to eliminate discrimination, victimisation and harassment, advance equal opportunity and foster good relations. Our trained race equality advisers offer creative, practical and effective support to schools to improve race equity.
When you work with us, we’ll help you to develop policies and practices that are racially sensitive and appropriate and to update your curriculum, so it is reflective, ethnically representative, meaningful and appropriate.
How HFL Education can help you with anti-racism and race equity
Experienced race equity advisers
Our specialist race equality advisers have a wealth of experience and knowledge in managing race equity and anti-racism initiatives that can drive positive cultural change within your school or setting.
Creative and flexible
We offer a number of creative and flexible approaches to support you in meeting your legal requirements around diversity and inclusion and help you to make meaningful progress across the school community.
Tailored support
From staff anti-racism training to race equity reviews and audits, and an equalities MOT to stakeholder focus groups, we can tailor our support and guidance to meet your specific needs and challenges.
Race equity and anti-racism training from HFL
Anti-racism training: how to lead with confidence
Our 3-part programme offers 2 face-to-face training days and a 1:1 online consultation session to support your school’s progress within a whole-school approach that enables leaders to understand:
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What is racism?
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The impact of racialised language
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Structural and institutional racism
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Strategies for addressing pushback and challenge
Anti-racism school audit and consultancy (12-month online programme)
Our online package supports schools locally and nationally to address race equality strategically, ensuring that practices become embedded throughout schools and settings.
Our audit covers 4 key areas, and leaders will be supported in consultancy sessions to self-evaluate, action plan, monitor and evaluate:
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Leadership – ethos and values
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Curriculum and resourcing
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Recruitment, retention and development
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Stakeholder feedback
Bespoke staff training (2 hours)
Our staff training includes:
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Introduction to anti-racism in schools
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Developing an anti-racist curriculum (in primary/secondary schools)
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Anti-racism in religious education
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Ensuring anti-racist pastoral and behaviour leadership
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Recruiting, retaining, and supporting a diverse staff (leadership training)
Further support
- Developing powerful stakeholder feedback focus groups
- E-learning/digital versions of key courses also available
Race equity reviews and audits
Our full-day review and audit processes offer you the opportunity to reflect and evaluate your practice across all school areas in relation to race and anti-racism. We also offer consultancy on accessing and using parent and pupil voice to inform equalities policy, review and planning.
Why work with HFL Education on race equity and anti-racism initiatives?
There are numerous benefits to working with HFL’s specialist race equality advice service.
Improved staff knowledge, understanding and awareness of racial inequality and anti-racism informs a broader and more global curriculum to engage and support all children in learning more about Britain’s rich history and the wider world.
You will also see increased levels of trust among stakeholders through better communication and active listening, which in turn allows you and your teams to develop further.
As an organisation:
We are committed to addressing racism and inequality as outlined in our Anti-Racism Position Statement.
We have developed the Great Representation Programme addressing race inequity in Hertfordshire schools in which participating schools explored issues such as:
- How to talk to staff and pupils about race
- How to diversify and decolonise the curriculum
- How to increase race diversity in staff, governing and trust bodies.
As part of the programme each participating school wrote a reflective journal telling the story of the work they undertook towards becoming an anti-racist school. These journals are available in the Great Representation Programme Volume 1 and 2.
The programme was delivered in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and will run again in 2023-24.
Find out more
If you’d like to know more about our work around race equity and anti-racism, and the benefits it can bring to your school, please contact the Wellbeing team on the details below.
Read about our Herts Voices programme: an inspirational volunteer speakers programme which connects schools with speakers from racially diverse backgrounds.
Read Rachel Macfarlane's blog 'Addressing race equity in schools'
This has been so useful in giving everyone confidence and helping us to make positive changes in our school.
Heath Mount School
Disclaimer: HFL Education is the largest school company in the UK and operates as a not-for-profit social enterprise. We are a leading provider of school improvement and business support products and services that enable schools, trusts, and educational settings inside and outside of Hertfordshire to deliver a great education. Our work includes providing support for school leaders on sensitive and complex matters relating to meeting the needs of individuals and groups with protected characteristics. All advice and recommendations provided by HFL Education advisers are informed by DfE guidance and statutory regulations, including those regarding political neutrality, bias and curriculum content, whilst also recognising the school’s legal responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010. School leaders will ultimately make the decisions that are appropriate for their school communities.