An equality and diversity initiative has been piloted at Strathaven Academy. 

It was delivered to pupils transitioning from the seven local primaries to the secondary school, with over 150 youngsters taking part.

Waheeda Huq, head teacher at Strathaven Academy, said:  “Speaking as the head teacher of Strathaven Academy, and what I think all head teachers in Scotland aspire to, is to gain a deeper understanding of diversity across Scotland and for young people to develop those key skills to enable them to be respectful of others in all walks of life.

“As we are working towards developing our equalities agenda we were delighted when we were approached by Hakim Din, the education consultant, as part of his work on anti-racist education.”

Hakim Din, is an education consultant working with schools in South Lanarkshire and Scotland, and added: “We live in a multi-racial,multi-cultural and multi-paced society. In order to prepare our young people when they leave school to be able to work in that society, we need to ensure that equality and diversity is embedded in our education system.”

There was a race discrimination event this year with four workshops for pupils to participate in. Topics included identifying differences and getting pupils to understand cultural aspects of minorities in the school.

The event received excellent feedback from teachers and pupils with kids saying they learned a lot about stereotypes. 

As well as this, pupils from the primaries transitioning to Strathaven Academy read a book called ‘Planet Omar’ in class before attending the event. It follows Omar as he joins a new school and faces bullying, race and religion whilst tackling stereotypes.