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 learning about Rosa Parks. The children were fascinated by her story and were amazed to learn

that people of different races were not treated equally just over 60 years ago. We then looked at stereotypes which promoted some interesting discussion on the stereotypes we might unknowingly have, for example, when asked which,from a series of images of men and women of different ages and race, might be a footballer, all the children chose a man! 

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 looked at 'Different families, same love' where we followed the story of Danni and her friends. Danni was being bullied by a group of children because she liked to play Red Indians with her male friends. We talked about how this must have made Danni feel and what we could do to stop anyone at Springbank from feeling this way. 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 learnt about autism and how it affects the brain. We created posters to help other people understand more about autism. 

Refugees

On Thursday, we watched and read stories about refugees. We were shocked to learn that so many children are currently refugees and we happy to hear some of the happy endings to their stories, particuarly when Milad finally found his older brother. We stepped into the shoes of a refugee by packing our own small bag to take with us on a journey and found it difficult to think about what we would need the most.