Hackney Schools Group Board - seminar for headteachers

About the seminar

13 May 2021, 16.30-18.00

This is the first in a series of seminars organised by the Hackney Schools Group Board (HSGB). The seminar aims to bring together all of the work carried out by HSGB with schools in Hackney and discuss other areas of priorities for schools and how the Board might be able to support this.

We have also enlisted a great keynote speaker; poet, writer and educator, Anthony Anaxagorou, who will attend the evening to share his unique experience as a British born Cypriot. He will also be sharing his poetry.

Programme

  • 16.30 - Welcome, Eleanor Schooling CBE, Chair of the HSGB
  • 16.40 - Keynote Speaker, Anthony Anaxagorou, poet, writer and educator
  • 17.25 - Break
  • 17.30 - Break-out room session to discuss the work carried out by HSGB and how schools and the board can work together
  • 17.50 - Plenary and closing remarks, Eleanor Schooling CBE, Chair of HSGB

Resources

HSGB newsletter

Work of the HSGB

Leading in a new era

Parental engagement on belonging

HSGB recommends

TED Talk: Not All Super Heroes Wear Capes: You have the power to change the world

Nova Reid is a writer and anti-racism campaigner, she provides an informative insight into some important steps we need to take as educationalists in shaping our practice. Nova highlights a sense of both urgency and relevance within the context of race and identity. Have a listen! 

Ben Hasan, HSGB Member

Book: Empireland, by Sathnam Sanghera

Sharing the knowledge we have gained is such a powerful way of creating a climate for learning, as it can prompt others to pick up something new and talk with others about what they have learned, or what they found that maybe they did not agree about. More than anything else I have been proud of the work we have done to encourage better talking about race. During our busy days it is still important to enrich our thinking and foster further change and improvement. So, in that spirit, do you have a favourite book or article that could be shared by all Hackney Schools? Would you be prepared to tell us about it? I do have one recommendation for you.

Our focus on Belonging has prompted me to think again about what and how we teach our children about our history and identity. For very young children, and young people taking exams in secondary school, the rich history of our country and the countries that many children come from gives great insights into the way we live today. I know that some schools have started bookclubs with staff that have provided a rich and new ways of talking about belonging, especially in the context of race. Like so many people I have been reading new works that re-open discussions about race. 

One of my favourite books has been Empireland by Sathnam Sanghara, author of The Boy with the Topknot that some of you may have read. Empireland is his brilliantly illuminating new book in which he demonstrates how so much of what we consider to be modern Britain is actually rooted in our imperial past. In prose that is, at once, both clear-eyed and full of acerbic wit, Sanghera shows how our past is everywhere: from how we live to how we think, from the foundation of the NHS to the nature of our racism. And yet empire is a subject, weirdly hidden from view.  It is a great read, resource and thought provocation for everyone working with children and families, whatever their ages. You may not agree with everything he says, but it is a very important read nonetheless.

Eleanor Schooling CBE, Chair of HSGB

Podcasts: