>#The school with extra lessons for black pupils only
>__Parent complains to government about Saturday literacy sessions with sections on black culture__
>Sian Griffiths, Education Editor
>Saturday July 08 2023, 6.00pm BST, The Sunday Times
>Nick Miller was horrified when a WhatsApp message from his child’s primary school arrived in September offering only its black pupils extra lessons to improve their reading and writing.
>The message, sent from the inclusion and anti-racism group to all Year 4 parents at Coldfall Primary School in Muswell Hill, north London, invited “black and black-heritage children” to join the two-hour online sessions on Saturday mornings. White children were not invited.
>Miller, 46, who works in professional services, had a “horrible sinking feeling” as soon as he saw the message. “I knew this was wrong and unfair,” he said. “And I knew I had a fight on my hands.”
>The message explained: “The aim is to accelerate progress in reading and writing whilst also developing the children’s knowledge of black history and culture.”
>The 33 sessions, which cost £400 per child (aged eight or nine), were provided by an outside organisation called NIA Academy, which was established with a company called the Haringey Education Partnership (HEP) and were paid for by Coldfall.
>Miller replied saying he believed the move to segregate young children for extra classes on the basis of their skin colour was both racist and divisive. He said the school should offer the lessons to all pupils, or not offer them at all.
>“Why should black and black-heritage children get extra support in reading and writing when it is obvious . . . that it is white boys who are doing worst academically [nationwide] and are being left behind?” he wrote.
>“Why not use these resources to help any child who needs help, no matter the colour of their skin? Dividing people up like this is divisive. It’s just going to make us suspicious and hostile towards one another.”
>__Campaigners claim politicisation__
>The school’s own statistics, and freedom of information requests, prove his point. In the final year, they show seven times more white pupils than black pupils failed to reach the expected standard in national reading tests. Eleven times more white pupils than black fell short for writing at Coldfall.
>Miller enlisted the help of Don’t Divide Us (DDU), a grassroots movement formed in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd in the United States to contest the idea that Britain is systematically racist. The group, which campaigns against such ideas being given weight in schools and other institutions, told Miller his experience was not an isolated one.
DDU’s report, published yesterday, says that 49 organisations, including HEP, “supply or endorse politicised and divisive teaching resources to schools”. The report claims 48 of the 49 “promote contested political beliefs from critical race theory”. At the heart of bitter divisions in schools in America, the theory holds that western society and its institutions are racially biased because they were devised for white people.
>The report says providing reading lists of black and ethnic minority authors, training teachers using terms such as “white privilege” and offering extra classes for black children could be seen as the political indoctrination of children.
Coldfall Primary called in an independent investigator who did not uphold Miller’s complaint but recommended in May that the school, when inviting pupils to have extra lessons on Saturdays, “consider taking a needs-based approach with black heritage, black African and black Caribbean children rather than a blanket approach”.
>The investigator cited “boroughwide” statistics provided by HEP that said black Caribbean pupils’ attainment is “significantly behind their white British peers”.
>Miller discovered that Coldfall had declared itself an anti-racist school and had drawn up an anti-racist policy. Year 5 children, aged nine and ten, had been asked to take a pledge to refer any incidents of suspected racism to a named teacher. Termly meetings give pupils as young as four a “safe space” to discuss racism.
>__Father fears US-style divide__
>Miller said he worried that if a child accidentally mispronounced another’s name or accidentally touched another child’s hair, then under Coldfall’s anti-racist policy they could be labelled a “wrongdoer” and made to apologise and the incident recorded.
>He has taken his complaint to the Department for Education. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is now considering the issue.
>The DDU report has been sent to Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, who has previously warned against politicised teaching and approaches in schools. Miller hopes she may intervene. Sources close to her said she is “looking at the report closely”.
>He said: “There is no need for this at Coldfall school. Perhaps a white child who is failing could legally challenge this . . . This is horribly unfair.”
>He fears Britain may find itself in the same position as the US. “I know that in the US, white kids are being made to apologise for being white and black kids are being told they are victims from an early age, which is hardly conducive to a healthy society,” Miller said. “We may not be as divided as the US but . . . things are being done here too.”
>Zena Brabazon, Haringey council’s cabinet member for children, schools and families, said: “It has long been recognised in Haringey that there is a historic and established attainment gap between black African/black Caribbean pupils and their white British peers. Our schools here in Haringey and the local authority are absolutely determined to collectively do something about those statistics.
>“The council has a number of targeted programmes for our young people to help them improve their attainment, including the NIA Academy. We are open to hearing feedback from our community and consider how we improve our projects and meet the needs of all our children and young people.”
>He fears Britain may find itself in the same position as the US. “I know that in the US, white kids are being made to apologise for being white and black kids are being told they are victims from an early age, which is hardly conducive to a healthy society,” Miller said. “We may not be as divided as the US but . . . things are being done here too.”
How is this not a good thing?
Traditionalist nonsense like the Pledge of Allegiance (Stateside) or religious tinged assemblies could easily be replaced with some kind of acknowledgment or apology based ceremony, conducted weekly, in which white pupils own up to their positions of privilege.
It’s just replacing a made up misogynistic based ‘Original Sin’ (Eve and the Apple) with a historical based, actual real event (slavery and colonialism)
I can’t see any bad consequences occuring as a result of this, whatsoever.
> I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
Maybe trying to reduce the use of AAVE which tbh i’m all for it as it’s pretty confusing to understand
I find it a bit worrying that things like these extra classes provided based on race, which are concerning, are connected with things in the article like ‘providing reading lists of black and ethnic minority authors’ or acknowledging that Western society prioritises (or at least prioritised) whiteness which seem perfectly reasonable.
Is this group suggesting that schools don’t have specific modules about specifically black or other ethnic group narratives? Because I would hope most people would see an issue with that.
And the whole apologising for being white thing seems like one of these DeSanctis talking points.
Personally I think this is a great idea. Better yet, we should keep all the races separated into different classes so their individual needs can be properly catered for
6 comments
>#The school with extra lessons for black pupils only
>__Parent complains to government about Saturday literacy sessions with sections on black culture__
>Sian Griffiths, Education Editor
>Saturday July 08 2023, 6.00pm BST, The Sunday Times
>Nick Miller was horrified when a WhatsApp message from his child’s primary school arrived in September offering only its black pupils extra lessons to improve their reading and writing.
>The message, sent from the inclusion and anti-racism group to all Year 4 parents at Coldfall Primary School in Muswell Hill, north London, invited “black and black-heritage children” to join the two-hour online sessions on Saturday mornings. White children were not invited.
>Miller, 46, who works in professional services, had a “horrible sinking feeling” as soon as he saw the message. “I knew this was wrong and unfair,” he said. “And I knew I had a fight on my hands.”
>The message explained: “The aim is to accelerate progress in reading and writing whilst also developing the children’s knowledge of black history and culture.”
>The 33 sessions, which cost £400 per child (aged eight or nine), were provided by an outside organisation called NIA Academy, which was established with a company called the Haringey Education Partnership (HEP) and were paid for by Coldfall.
>Miller replied saying he believed the move to segregate young children for extra classes on the basis of their skin colour was both racist and divisive. He said the school should offer the lessons to all pupils, or not offer them at all.
>“Why should black and black-heritage children get extra support in reading and writing when it is obvious . . . that it is white boys who are doing worst academically [nationwide] and are being left behind?” he wrote.
>“Why not use these resources to help any child who needs help, no matter the colour of their skin? Dividing people up like this is divisive. It’s just going to make us suspicious and hostile towards one another.”
>__Campaigners claim politicisation__
>The school’s own statistics, and freedom of information requests, prove his point. In the final year, they show seven times more white pupils than black pupils failed to reach the expected standard in national reading tests. Eleven times more white pupils than black fell short for writing at Coldfall.
>Miller enlisted the help of Don’t Divide Us (DDU), a grassroots movement formed in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd in the United States to contest the idea that Britain is systematically racist. The group, which campaigns against such ideas being given weight in schools and other institutions, told Miller his experience was not an isolated one.
DDU’s report, published yesterday, says that 49 organisations, including HEP, “supply or endorse politicised and divisive teaching resources to schools”. The report claims 48 of the 49 “promote contested political beliefs from critical race theory”. At the heart of bitter divisions in schools in America, the theory holds that western society and its institutions are racially biased because they were devised for white people.
>The report says providing reading lists of black and ethnic minority authors, training teachers using terms such as “white privilege” and offering extra classes for black children could be seen as the political indoctrination of children.
Coldfall Primary called in an independent investigator who did not uphold Miller’s complaint but recommended in May that the school, when inviting pupils to have extra lessons on Saturdays, “consider taking a needs-based approach with black heritage, black African and black Caribbean children rather than a blanket approach”.
>The investigator cited “boroughwide” statistics provided by HEP that said black Caribbean pupils’ attainment is “significantly behind their white British peers”.
>Miller discovered that Coldfall had declared itself an anti-racist school and had drawn up an anti-racist policy. Year 5 children, aged nine and ten, had been asked to take a pledge to refer any incidents of suspected racism to a named teacher. Termly meetings give pupils as young as four a “safe space” to discuss racism.
>__Father fears US-style divide__
>Miller said he worried that if a child accidentally mispronounced another’s name or accidentally touched another child’s hair, then under Coldfall’s anti-racist policy they could be labelled a “wrongdoer” and made to apologise and the incident recorded.
>He has taken his complaint to the Department for Education. The Equalities and Human Rights Commission is now considering the issue.
>The DDU report has been sent to Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, who has previously warned against politicised teaching and approaches in schools. Miller hopes she may intervene. Sources close to her said she is “looking at the report closely”.
>He said: “There is no need for this at Coldfall school. Perhaps a white child who is failing could legally challenge this . . . This is horribly unfair.”
>He fears Britain may find itself in the same position as the US. “I know that in the US, white kids are being made to apologise for being white and black kids are being told they are victims from an early age, which is hardly conducive to a healthy society,” Miller said. “We may not be as divided as the US but . . . things are being done here too.”
>Zena Brabazon, Haringey council’s cabinet member for children, schools and families, said: “It has long been recognised in Haringey that there is a historic and established attainment gap between black African/black Caribbean pupils and their white British peers. Our schools here in Haringey and the local authority are absolutely determined to collectively do something about those statistics.
>“The council has a number of targeted programmes for our young people to help them improve their attainment, including the NIA Academy. We are open to hearing feedback from our community and consider how we improve our projects and meet the needs of all our children and young people.”
>He fears Britain may find itself in the same position as the US. “I know that in the US, white kids are being made to apologise for being white and black kids are being told they are victims from an early age, which is hardly conducive to a healthy society,” Miller said. “We may not be as divided as the US but . . . things are being done here too.”
How is this not a good thing?
Traditionalist nonsense like the Pledge of Allegiance (Stateside) or religious tinged assemblies could easily be replaced with some kind of acknowledgment or apology based ceremony, conducted weekly, in which white pupils own up to their positions of privilege.
It’s just replacing a made up misogynistic based ‘Original Sin’ (Eve and the Apple) with a historical based, actual real event (slavery and colonialism)
I can’t see any bad consequences occuring as a result of this, whatsoever.
> I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character.
Maybe trying to reduce the use of AAVE which tbh i’m all for it as it’s pretty confusing to understand
I find it a bit worrying that things like these extra classes provided based on race, which are concerning, are connected with things in the article like ‘providing reading lists of black and ethnic minority authors’ or acknowledging that Western society prioritises (or at least prioritised) whiteness which seem perfectly reasonable.
Is this group suggesting that schools don’t have specific modules about specifically black or other ethnic group narratives? Because I would hope most people would see an issue with that.
And the whole apologising for being white thing seems like one of these DeSanctis talking points.
Personally I think this is a great idea. Better yet, we should keep all the races separated into different classes so their individual needs can be properly catered for