Community and Belonging

St George’s is an international school with more than 70 nationalities represented in both the student and staff bodies. We wish to celebrate this diversity and ensure that every member of our community feels that their day-to-day experiences are founded on principles of equity and justice.  

St George’s is a place where all of us should feel safe and included with a strong sense of belonging: an environment that welcomes newcomers and actively makes every member of our community feel safe and included.  
How does the curriculum at St George’s reflect DEIJ principles?

In the Primary school, staff choose books and topics that stimulate our younger learners and introduce them to the need to treat people of all backgrounds and abilities with respect and openness. While the focus of the Primary curriculum is to ensure that all our students develop core skills and knowledge - the building blocks of their future learning - we also prepare resources that represent the world in all its variety, providing clear examples of equity and justice in an age-appropriate way. This also aligns with our commitment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We want our curriculum to be accessible to all and for our students and staff to understand how we can adapt our teaching and learning to include people of all abilities and backgrounds.

In Secondary, as students experience more subject-based learning, they are introduced to the knowledge and skills needed to engage with complex questions through a range of topics. In geography, for example, students learn about population growth and movement, sustainability and environmental challenges to society. In science, we look at genetics and  biodiversity. The study of maths engages students in the ways in which statistical data can be manipulated. In history, they may learn about the Civil Rights movement in the US and the English department chooses class texts that explore how prejudice and fear can lead to dangerous outcomes, whether this is through classic books such as To Kill a Mockingbird or more contemporary books such as I am Malala.  

DEIJ principles and concepts have long been embedded not just in St George’s but in school programmes around the world, such as the UK National Curriculum and the International Baccalaureate Primary, Middle Years and Diploma programmes.

Teachers work hard to integrate principles and concepts connected with DEIJ in ways that complement and enhance academic learning. This encourages critical thinking, empathy and social awareness - valuable skills for academic and personal success. We welcome opportunities for our students to participate in open debate and discussion. The key is to ensure that this is delivered in an age-appropriate way. In Secondary, when it comes to exam preparation, DEIJ concepts are already built into certain subject specifications by exam boards.

No, DEIJ is not a single topic, nor is there any standalone teaching of DEIJ. Since its inception, St George’s has used a range of materials and resources to explore questions of diversity of culture, tradition and nationality, equality and equity of opportunity and fairness in societies, inclusion of all protected characteristics and what makes a just and fair society. These materials and resources have been used with children of all ages in lessons about geography, history, PSHE (personal, social, health and economic education), English, science and maths, because these concepts of diversity, equality, inclusion and justice are universal and embedded in the British curriculum that we follow.

In European and British law, and in the statutory British Schools Overseas guidance, it is illegal to discriminate against any group or individual on the following grounds:

•     Age
•     Gender reassignment
•     Being married or in a civil partnership
•     Being pregnant or on maternity leave
•     Disability
•     Race including colour, nationality, ethnicity or national origin
•     Religion or belief
•     Sex
•     Sexual orientation

These nine grounds are protected characteristics. There are times when these protected characteristics can come into conflict. At St George’s, our approach to DEIJ means that in an age-appropriate way, when such conflicts arise, we seek to resolve this through dialogue, aware that every situation is unique. Research suggests that such conflicts are rarer in environments where inclusion, community and respect for the protected characteristics are openly discussed and promoted. We want St George’s to embody this kind of environment, where everyone feels safe, valued and included in our community.

At St George’s, many of our teachers have undertaken research into DEIJ issues as part of their teacher training and studies towards further academic qualifications. We use this expertise to share best practice in our planning and preparation, and to explore how we can develop understanding through our Professional Learning Communities.  

An example is recent training in AI alerting teachers to the dangers of inbuilt bias in large language models based on the cultural backgrounds of the programmers, which in turn influence algorithms and coding. This has led to facial-recognition systems being unable to respond to faces of people from different ethnicities.

Our behavioural policies and approaches address incidents of bias and discrimination. Teachers may observe instances where children unwittingly or intentionally target a fellow student because of a perceived difference. We address this through open discussion. We encourage staff, children and parents to report any instance of unkind behaviour arising from bias, prejudice or discrimination.  

Our response may include quiet conversations with individuals, assemblies, debates, discussions, restorative meetings or exploration of scenarios through role play or case studies. This list of approaches is not exhaustive. We include parents in these discussions. We want children to use empathy and kindness in their relationships, but we understand that there can be moments of misunderstanding and we all make mistakes. We want to support any child who feels vulnerable as a result of unkind words or behaviour, and we also want to help those children who make mistakes to understand the underlying principles of kindness and respect.

We want students at St George’s to have a strong sense of their diverse individual cultural identity and background, to show empathy and an understanding of social responsibility. We want them to develop critical thinking so they reflect on how they can make a difference in building a fairer, kinder world. St George’s students already demonstrate this in many different ways, for example the Year 6 Soup Discos in which we cook soup from school-grown vegetables and donate it to Luxembourg charities. The amazing success of our Christmas shoebox initiative and food donations are also examples of how our whole community – students, parents and staff - can come together to support values of kindness, generosity and justice.  
I have further questions about DEIJ at St George’s. Who can I speak to?

You can discuss DEIJ with class teachers, leadership staff and with our DEIJ Coordinator (email) and our Principal (email). We are happy to arrange a meeting to discuss specific concerns within a family.