This week has been equalities week across Springbank, with lessons being dedicated to the theme ‘All different, all equal’. The children have loved having opportunities to learn about race equality, gender equality and disabilities and mental health. Each day we have focused on a different aspect of equality and the children have completed a variety of activities to help them understand this concept.

Race Equality 

On Monday, the children learnt all about race equality. We started the day by recapping our knowledge of famous figures who have influenced the black and race history in our country and others! We then looked at the tragic death of Stephen Lawrence through race related knife crime. The children examined the impact his death had on his family, the British legal system and Britain as a whole. We then looked at stereotypes which promoted some interesting discussion on the stereotypes we might unknowingly have, for example, when looking at a variety of different pictures, children automatically picked a female as a full-time parent, but a male as a footballer!

Gender Equality

On Tuesday, we looked at gender inequality, discussing the 'traditional' roles of men and women and how these can vary. We started the day with an assembly, where two children performed the same task and yet received different rewards as one was a boy and one was a girl. The children were not impressed with this! 

We talked about the stereotypes which might affect women and how this affects their day to day lives. We looked at the law, what the 'protected groups' are and why that means that women shouldn't be discriminated against in law and employment. 

We looked at 'Different families, same love' where we followed the story of Emma and her parents. In this story, Emma has two mums and two dads. Her friend, Genesis, is told she can't hang around with Emma anymore and this leads to the girls having a discussion around same-sex parents. We talked about what this means and the stereotypes faced by gay men and women across the world. The children showed some incredible maturity during our discussions and really impressed with how they thought about the issues! 

SEN and Disability

On Wednesday, our theme was SEN (special educational need) and disability. The children learnt what both SEN and disability were and completed activities which were designed to teach the children that we can't always see SEN or disabilities and that is important to be kind to everybody. We then focussed on Asperger Syndrome and Autism Awareness where we discussed how people with Autism or Asperger Syndrome may need support in different ways. The children had a fantastic discussion around their own strengths and the things that they may need more support with. This helped to reinforce the message of the week; that we are 'All different, All equal'.