THE Church of England’s education office, the National Society, has updated its recent anti-bullying guidance for church schools to include a section on preventing and tackling race-based bullying in schools.
The guidance, Flourishing for All, first appeared last July (News, 12 July 2024) and replaces the 2014 document Valuing All God’s Children. It is split into sections, the first of which focuses on tackling homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic bullying, and includes advice on how to support gender-questioning pupils (News, 27 September 2024).
Feedback is being invited on the new section, published last week, Part C: Guidance for preventing and tackling race-based bullying, before 12 May.
Topics covered for schools include definitions and types of race-based bullying of both children and adults, the challenge of addressing these in church schools, how to prevent and respond, ensuring psychological safety, and specific guidance for primary and secondary schools and diocesan boards of education.
The section introduction says: “As with bullying in general, race-based bullying can occur in various forms, including directly through physical violence or indirectly through continuous hateful remarks around a person’s racial group.
“Whether intentional or not, when actions are undertaken to cause continual offence, exclusion, harassment or harm, schools are required to protect adults and pupils within their care.
“Race-based bullying can overlap with some forms of faith-based bullying. . . While the intersection of faith and race are discussed in brief, this section of the anti-bullying guidance will primarily focus on race.”
The guidance emphasises that “difference should be embraced not erased. It is crucial for church schools to embrace and celebrate differences, as failing to recognise diversity (colour-blindness) can cause harm.”
It acknowledges that race-based bullying — including “persistent microaggressions” — “remains prevalent within society” and that pupils and adults from particular ethnic groups are at a higher risk of being bullied in school settings.
Church schools should “be attuned to their local context and communities”, it says, and the response should “emanate” from its Christian vision, including a “clear message” of welcome and inclusion. Policies and training should be in place to protect the physical, emotional, and psychological safety of all its pupils and adults.
Four more sections (D-E) are due to be published on further protected characteristics.
Give feedback at: churchofengland.tfaforms.net/f/FFAPartC
