The Accord Coalition has today launched the seventh annual Inclusivity Award. The Award is open to all schools in England and Wales and seeks to recognise the achievements of those schools that do most to promote inclusion, community cohesion, and the growth of mutual understanding, particularly on the grounds of religion and philosophical belief.
Past winners have all received coverage for their success in national and local press. Next year’s winners are being offered a cash prize (£500 for first place; £250 for second and £100 for third).
Winning schools in 2015 included Brinsworth Comprehensive School in South Yorkshire. Aspects of its work commended by the judges included its seating policy, which ensured that pupils among its ethnically mixed student body worked with a different combination of peers in every learning situation; its monitoring of racist incidents and bullying, including through students surveys; the extent of its exploration of community cohesion in Religious Education, as well as its teaching of civic values and the basics of the legal system.
A non-discriminatory faith ethos school, The Walthamstow Academy, won high praise from the judging panel. This included for it having no regard for the religion or beliefs of pupils or pupil’s family in its oversubscription policy; providing non-instructional RE that covers a range of world faiths and Humanism, and the tackling issues of racial discrimination and promoting of LGBT equality.
The 2016 Award will be judged by a respected and experienced panel of experts from political, professional and religious backgrounds. Previous judges include:
- former Conservative Secretary of State for Education, Lord Baker
- the then Labour Shadow Minister for Children, Lisa Nandy MP
- the Bishop of Buckingham, The Rt Revd Dr Alan Wilson
- Chair of the Religious Education Council of England and Wales, John Least OBE
- General Secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Dr Mary Bousted
- journalist, Polly Toynbee
The winning schools will be announced in the New Year. The deadline for entries is Sunday December 13th. Please contact Paul Pettinger at paul@accordcoalition.org.uk or on 020 7324 3071 with any queries, and visit https://accordcoalition.org.uk/accord-award-2016/ for more details and an application pack.
Launching the 2016 Award, Accord Coalition Chair, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, said ‘Many people complain about the state of our schools, but Accord seeks to do the reverse and is committed to rewarding those institutions that advance innovative ideas and display best practice, and then drawing attention to their work.’
