Childwall school secures top anti-racism award

Childwall Sports and Science Academy in South Liverpool is set to achieve the highest category gold award as part of the Tackling Racism in Schools Award (TRSA) programme run by the Anthony Walker Foundation this July.   

It is one of 12 schools in Merseyside that have agreed to take part in the programme, which provides educational workshops for pupils and training for all school staff to learn about how to challenge and identify racism and where to find support.  

The Anthony Walker Foundation was set up in 2006 by Anthony’s mother, Gee Walker, after he was racially attacked and murdered in Huyton.  

When talking with Radio Merseyside, TRSA Manager Jude Agis, who runs the educational workshops, said: “All the projects that the Anthony Walker Foundation are involved in are to make sure that young people’s views are at the forefront of everything we do.” 

Discussing ways in which the programme has helped create a more student-led and inclusive environment, Assistant Head Teacher of Childwall SSA Jeni Cassidy said: “The year 9 student ambassadors have interviewed subject leads asking about how diverse the curriculum is and how we can diversify it further.  

“Subject leads have gone away to make those adaptions to the curriculum.  

“They’ve also re-written our equality objectives, we’ve done that with poet Amina Atiq, she’s a scouse-Yemeni poet.” 

She also added that students are now reporting more when they do witness or experience racism at school, having an allocated teacher they can talk to for support.  

The school also conducted a survey in which 85% of pupils said that they had a better understanding of the ways in which language can be harmful and that they would not use that kind of language again.  

Working alongside TRSA’s Jude Agis and the Foundation, schools across Merseyside aim to create a more diverse, inclusive and understanding environment for future generations to learn and grow in.