Further to my recent communication, I want to thank all those who have contacted us over the last few days about the role that education and Solihull can play in challenging certain narratives in our society.

Many years ago, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o wrote about decolonising the mind, and about the power of curriculums, culture and language in shaping society.  Education allows growth and change, but it can also be a means of perpetuating power structures and belief systems.  We support the Black Lives Matter movement in its struggle against all forms of racism and anti-black violence.  We recognise how profoundly disturbing and shocking these events are for all members of our community, but especially our BAME pupils and staff.

Moments like this force us to pause and see our attitudes, behaviour, culture and systems with new eyes.  They also help us to reflect and examine how we can better equip ourselves and our pupils to see the world with clarity and empathy and embolden us to change it for the good.

Our commitment is that this won’t just be a social media post or a brief moment of focus, but a genuine attempt to do better in the long term.  Over the next weeks, months and years we will take very seriously the process of examining what we do.  Perfection is highly subjective and arguably unattainable, but we will continue to reflect, to listen to the voices of minority groups and to try and shape our bit of the world to be better.

We have already begun to identify key areas for reflection and change and these will now be explored by different working groups in the school, including senior leaders, staff groups and the Student Council.  Change can be challenging and even controversial, but this is one of the contexts in which Perseverantia is a very meaningful and powerful motto.

Thank you.

David EJJ Lloyd

Headmaster