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Student Blog: Equality, equity and respect
“What are equality and equity?” you may ask.
Well, according to Google, equality is
the state of being equal in status, right and opportunities
and
equity is the quality of being fair, impartial and giving others what is needed to be equal.
As an example, equality would be giving everyone a 4-metre-tall ladder in order to reach the top of a tree – the problem is that not everyone would be able to reach the top, depending on their height and the branch level.
Equity would be giving everyone a ladder tall enough for them to reach the top.
Valley Park does an excellent job of providing equality and opportunities for all students - they have access to no matter their differences. However, improvement is always needed, and the school's equity and respect can be improved.
Nothing is ever perfect.
Some students may face difficulty through being treated equally within the school. Valley Park does its best to assure students that everyone is equal.
But how equitable is it?
I think Valley’s staff members treat students equally when it comes to opportunities and learning, being respectful of disabilities and decisions. However, there is a small amount of low-respect when it comes to identity and rule flexibility depending on age/year group.
Understandably, the older years have more responsibility and need to keep a better reputation, as they are role models to younger students. I don’t think this is treating students unequally, rather treating older years more appropriately as they are maturing.
When a student reports any kind of discrimination/inequality the school does act; they try and sort out the situation sensibly and take necessary actions depending on the situation. For example, simple student separation, on calls/isolation or having a discussion with everyone involved. Sadly, this does not fix the issue forever.
It is to be expected that there are some equality issues in school, as there are in the world. I believe that Valley Park tries very hard to minimise discrimination and hate within its community but of course incidents will still happen. And not everything will be reported. I have interviewed some students and, with their permission, have used their opinions and verbatim quotes on this subject.
One student was very passionate about the lack of diversity and respect from students to their fellow peers. This school tries very hard to encourage inclusivity from all students - after all we are part of the Valley Park family - however, they said that with many issues they will “leave it unsolved and not really do much about it,” although whether this is to do with the student support system not being quick to act or the fact that students themselves don’t want to make a scene, is an unclear issue.
During lesson times, students have more respect towards others; this is accepted as it is a policy to respect one another. On the other hand, outside of lessons this is very different. This student talked about how “there is a lack of education and knowledge about different backgrounds and ethnicity and that a way the school could improve the equality for all is to “show more empathy and act faster on issues.”
Another student says Valley Park is great with its respect and equality. However, they feel as if the school rules and guidelines are targeted towards certain groups. As an example, they stated that sports clubs are more exclusive to those already a part of the school for years and could be intimidating for younger years. “Valley is equal when it comes to learning, I've never had any issues myself, but I feel like some teachers are biased and have obvious favourites.”
I then spoke to some students from different year groups. One topic that recurred a lot during these discussions was equality and respect towards people of the LGBTQ+ community, specifically respect towards transgender and non-binary students. An anonymous student was brutally honest about their true opinion of the school. “I think the school’s equal to a certain extent, I mean they deal with racial issues really well but kind of ignore issues when it comes to trans people and their pronouns, I feel like they don’t really care.” When I asked for more detail on this, they said that “when it comes to trans rights and all the different genders that fall under the non-binary umbrella I feel like some teachers just don’t respect it, or they think it’s a phase, but it's not and we deserve to be treated equally.”
Many teachers at the school respect all students and are continuing to embed rules and guidelines to help all students receive the respect they deserve – and vice-versa. By having Student Council and Form Reps, issues are more likely to be addressed but obviously more can be done; by having extra support for minority groups whether it be clubs, a selected staff member to represent their voices and opinions or just someone to talk to, the school will do its best. And every student and teacher will get the respect they deserve.
When I spoke to a student in a higher year group, they voiced their opinion on equity and equality. When asked if Valley Park gave all students equal opportunities, they were swift to respond “no, everything is always aimed for specific students like sports clubs or gaming clubs, they aren't inclusive, and people don’t feel comfortable going all the time.” With Valley Park now having a few student-run clubs – such as Drama Club run by Year 10 and 11, the idea of a welcoming new environment for everyone is taking root. I don’t know about you, but I'd love going to an after-school club run by a fellow student!
This student also expressed how each year group is treated differently. As mentioned in the beginning paragraph, older years do have more responsibility as they are role models, however younger years should not use this as an excuse not to behave respectfully: “Older years are strict, the young ones can get away with anything because they’re only year seven!” Having more student-run clubs and the involvement of students across the lower and upper school will make older students less intimidating and more friendly and would benefit the school by assuring equality and making it a more welcoming environment for all.
I also got two teachers' opinions on the school’s equality and respect in order to get an insight:
“I think Valley Park is making strides towards making the school environment equal for everybody.” Improvement is always needed but it's nice to have a school that is conscious of inequality and wants to change for the better.
“I do think our school is good at being equal for all and providing equal opportunities, but I can understand that, in lessons, some students may need some more support which could appear as being unequal.”
Does every student at Valley Park have equity? No, not fully, but “I would like to think that teachers treat students equally, yes.”
Obviously, a teacher's job is to teach, provide information and, in a way, mentor students; but in order to do this successfully, respect needs to go both ways, not only teachers respecting students but students respecting teachers. Most Valley Park staff members treat students with full respect and most Valley Park students do the same – but how can we bridge that gap and make everyone respect one-another in and outside of lessons?
“Student Voice has played a massive role in it [having more equality at Valley], allowing students to be heard if they don’t feel equal.”
Let's take a moment and think of this logically; in the world not everyone will respect one-another, but in a controlled environment like a school it is easier to normalise this respect. You cannot force someone to respect you because everyone is entitled to their own opinions. However, if everyone is seen to deserve respect, the issue is solved.
By changing the mindset of ‘you need to earn my respect, or I will be rude to you‘ to ‘I'm respecting you, please treat me the same’ this issue would be eliminated. The golden rule.
By students having a say in what happens at school we have seen respect levels increase. Resources created by the school are being utilised – Student Voice, Peer Mentors etc.
A second teacher gave their full input on this subject and delved deeper into the schools' differences. “I don't think any school is fully equal for all students, but I do think Valley Park is extremely good at providing equal opportunities for students and, with the changes that have been made in the last few years, the school is becoming more and more inclusive all the time.” When asked about discrimination at the school they passionately added that “Valley Park is brilliant at tackling discrimination of any kind. When there is discrimination, we [as staff members] try to educate the students to know what was wrong and how to prevent it happening again.” It's clear to see that this school has no tolerance for discrimination and, when it is brought to their attention, it will be faced and stopped.
Equality from student to student varies when away from the classroom, and we would like teachers to take note of this “because when there is a different structure and environment students tend to treat each other with more respect in the classroom.”
“Teachers try their hardest to treat all students as equally as possible, but we are humans, and we may get it wrong sometimes” but the important thing is that you always learn from you mistakes (which both teacher and students make).
The final question, which I think is the most important, reflected on how we as a school can improve:
- “I am a firm believer that education of equality is key, having real life people talk about their experiences” could extremely benefit both staff and students to get a better understanding.
- “Staff being open and honest about equality issues and things they may have experienced – this will give students someone they feel they can speak to if they feel they are treated unfairly.”
- Having someone who you feel comfortable to talk to is always useful “celebrating differences and diversity – not just learning about them.”
As students we now have a voice that can be heard louder than ever, and we can make changes faster than before, we can truly change this school for the better – so let's do it! Student Survey forms go out all the time, so let's be honest and let the school know how we feel.
Nothing is ever perfect, and improvement is always needed.
So, let's make Valley Park School equal for everyone. Give equity to all students. Respect one-another. Whether you are a Year 7 who is new to this school, a Year 13 who's been here for a while or a staff member – remember Valley is like a family, we have each other's backs and speak up for what is right.
Let's make this school a safe space.
Finally, big thank you to all the students and teachers who gave their honest input on this.