DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION
Diversity and Inclusion at Grays Convent
Our Mission Statement:
At Grays Convent we recognise the value of each individual as a gift from God to the world. We are a Catholic school founded by the La Sainte Union Sisters and our ethos is one of unity, prayer, worship, service and work. We strive to follow the example of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary by enabling learning to take place in a caring and accepting community. We are blessed by Jesus the Good Shepherd, try to follow him in everything that we do, and in doing so make the most of our God given talents. We are one with God.
Our Mission Statement says… “At Grays Convent we recognise the value of each individual as a gift from God to the world….” and we all work hard… “by enabling learning to take place in a caring and accepting community”.
One of our pupils recently defined Diversity as follows:
‘Diversity for me is the ability for differences to co exist with a mutual understanding or acceptance present. Also diversity means inclusion of a range of viewpoints and perspectives’.
So Diversity is about recognising and celebrating differences, and Inclusion means creating an environment where every individual feels valued and respected, and where everyone has a sense of belonging. These definitions clearly echo our School Mission and Motto ‘We are one with God’.
At Grays Convent we are proud of the diversity in our school and we celebrate it. We encourage our pupils and staff to respect, appreciate and celebrate differences. We work together to ensure that pupils and staff are able to learn and teach in a supportive, caring and safe environment, without fear of being bullied and free from discrimination and harassment. We will address any reported incidents of bullying or discrimination as a priority to resolve any issues and to emerge as a stronger community.
Education, and particularly schools, are very much at the heart of promoting equality, and it is our responsibility to ensure that every member of our community feels enabled to succeed irrespective of their race, gender, disability, religion or sexual orientation. We encourage an open and reflective dialogue around diversity and inclusion and aim to help ourselves and our pupils to understand and address the complex social issues at the heart of inequality and prejudice.
How do we promote equality and diversity at Grays Convent?
Development of our culture
Sharing and living our School Mission.
Continuing to develop an inclusive culture and community with diversity recognised, valued and celebrated.
Ensuring equal access to opportunities to enable pupils and staff to fully participate in the learning process.
Responding to behaviour at odds with an inclusive culture and community.
Promoting cultural understanding.
Cultural Capital
This is about preparing our pupils for life in modern Britain by providing opportunities to develop 'cultural capital' that celebrates all cultures, reflects our school and local community and the country's diversity. ‘Cultural capital’ encompasses experiences, art and knowledge from a variety of cultures. We are part of the Thurrock Trailblazer Programme which gives us a valuable link to the Royal Opera House site in Thurrock and a rich catalogue of cultural opportunities to enjoy. Whilst our pupils will have opportunities to study and experience traditional British 'high' culture (such as Shakespeare, ballet or opera), it is important that our offer goes beyond this and also encompasses world cultures and cultural groups in the UK (for example pupils learning Indian dance or Nigerian cooking), and popular culture (studying the music of The Beatles or Stormzy).
Celebration
Black History Month - October 2025
‘Reclaiming Narratives’: The Inspiring Theme for Black History Month 2024
Reclaiming narratives is the theme for this year and there is so much to learn from these stories: we can see 6 Black men and women who played vital roles in the British Armed Forces and therefore shaped our shared history. We’d like their stories and service to be told and remembered. We can also see our pioneers of expression with a timeline of Black British art, literature, music and performance from Phillis Wheatley’s publication in 1773 to Michaela Coel winning a Bafta in 2021 as leading Actress.
Throughout October we will be raising awareness and celebrating Black History. We are embracing this year’s theme - Reclaiming Narratives.
Stories are powerful tools that shape how we understand our past, present, and future. This month we will encourage sharing of stories and to shine a spotlight on unsung heroes, everyday people who have made a lasting impact on the Black Community. We also welcome conversations about Black History… so let’s start talking…
Our aim is to help ensure that pupils, staff and future generations grow up with a richer understanding of Black History.
We have a wide range of resources displayed in school, here you can see pupils finding out more about Black Leaders who have transformed the world.
Black History Month 2024
‘Reclaiming Narratives’
Policies and Professional Development
Staff have received training on The Equalities Act, Protected Characteristics and Unconscious Bias.
Safer Recruitment training is available for Senior Staff.
Curriculum
We offer a broad balanced curriculum which:
Presents a diverse range of voices and perspectives across subject content.
Develops pupil’s awareness of different perspectives on issues relating to diversity.
Delivers content which not only allows students to see themselves reflected in the curriculum, but also others in a positive way.
Culture and Diversity Week - July 2025
At Grays Convent we aim to provide a high quality rounded education for all our pupils. We celebrate Culture and Diversity during a special week at the end of the Summer Term. In many ways Culture and Diversity are our super powers by which I mean that each day pupils and staff have the opportunity to learn from others who may not be the same as us, and we work each day to create an environment in the Arts, Sports and beyond that encourages learning from others. Culture and Diversity Week is a good time to reflect on the many ways we strive to develop each person’s full potential in a climate of joy, respect and celebration. This year’s celebration has been a particularly good example as we have enjoyed a week packed full of events, workshops, activities and general good vibes! We began the week with a special themed lesson from Mrs Gardner on the Jubilee Year and how we can all be Pilgrims of Hope. Each class considered their hopes and dreams compared these to our brothers and sisters around the world or people of different ages who are facing different challenges to us. As a community we made pledges to show how we could continue our positive social action in order to make Pope Francis’ hope about creating a better world a reality.
Throughout the week Year 7 pupils enjoyed a Slapstick Comedy Workshop, whilst pupils in Years 8 and 9 and 10 attended a Creative Careers Assembly. Our Art department shared cultural graffiti and textile workshops were available to pupils. A Cultural book club was run by our librarian Miss Cox.
Year 8 took part in a Gospel Choir workshop and Year 9 and 10 pupils took part in a Hip Hop Dance Workshop. New this year were musical interludes to create a pleasant ambience as pupils travelled from one lesson to the next- we enjoyed soloists playing violin, piano and singing.
We celebrated our cultural diversity in many ways, on Culture day we enjoyed Chinese Calligraphy and painting, henna hand decorating, cultural dance performances along with shared picnics and a welcome visiting ice cream van on a very hot day!.
We ended the week with our Sports Day at Blackshots athletic track and enjoyed the usual display of sporting excellence, resilience and good natured competition.
We are so grateful to all our staff and visitors to Grays Convent who have given freely of their time and talents this week and all the other weeks of the year so that we can enjoy all these extra special events and ensure that we are delivering the best quality education for all. Arts, Culture and Diversity is at the heart of Grays Convent and this week is a wonderful way to celebrate everyone; their backgrounds, their interests, their talents and their individual personalities that shine so brightly!
Reviews course content to ensure material is appropriate for the community we serve.
Uses Schemes of Work and a well-resourced library which contain a diverse range of authors.
Understands and celebrate the heritage of our community.
Encourages discussion from students with diverse backgrounds and include topics where personal experience and views are expressed.
We aim to include different forms of cultural capital throughout our whole curriculum and as a golden thread, woven through everything we teach.
Our Diversity Prayer
Dear God,
We celebrate the many ways in which we are different.
Thank you that you have made each of us a one-off, and that you love us.
Our fingerprints are a reminder that we are unique.
Help us to value and celebrate the uniqueness of each member of our school family
Help us to be comfortable with difference and to remember that deep down, we are all the same on the inside and are all created in your image.
Help us to be understanding and accepting.
Help us never to think that discrimination, hatred or prejudice is OK.
Give us the courage to challenge any prejudices we may hold.
Help us to grow in our friendships and understanding of each other
Amen.
