ACfE case studies

Rosehall High School

Report On Anti-Sectarian Good Practice AtRosehallHigh School,Coatbridge

CONTEXT

Rosehall High School is a non-denominational establishment, situated in Coatbridge, in North Lanarkshire local education authority.  It serves an area of mixed public and private housing, accommodating approximately 450 pupils with a current staffing complement of 41.9 FTE; its school meal entitlement is above the North Lanarkshire and Scottish averages.  The school occupies a 1960s-type building and is due to merge with Coatbridge High School in the summer of 2008.  Though there has not been an HMIE (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education) inspection since 1998, an improving trend in terms of formal attainment, attendance and staying-on rates is noticeable in recent years.

TAKING AN ANTI-SECTARIAN INITIATIVE

In recent years, Rosehall High School has attempted to develop and improve the wellbeing of its pupils through a wide range of initiatives, all of which are linked in some way to enhancing self-awareness, combating the effects of prejudice and discrimination, and developing citizenship skills.

The school is the base for the Healthy Lifestyle Project (HLP) which “promotes positive and healthy lifestyles to primary and secondary pupils” in South Coatbridge, an area characterised by high levels of social deprivation, with interrelated health and social exclusion problems.  The Project’s perspective is that it is important, in addressing issues of individual physical health, also to encourage school pupils and local people to attend to other relevant aspects of community life which impact on social as well as individual wellbeing.  The depute head teacher, as Project Manager of the HLP, has been particularly active in promoting and energising the initiative,  which won the Healthy Living section of the Scottish Educational Awards in 2005.  Representatives of local churches, the NHS, community groups, private industry and local politicians have been recruited as sponsors and supporters.

Manifestations of the Catholic/Protestant religious divide occur throughout Lanarkshire as is the case in many parts of Scotland, particularly, but not exclusively, in the south west/central belt.  Additionally, in 2005, the “July bombings” in London focused attention both on the Muslim community and, more generally, on the role played by religion in current and past human conflicts.  The school management team, conscious of the possible dangers of rising sectarian and religious intolerance to their pupils and community, decided to seek ways by which these issues might be directly addressed, locally, here and now, and also internationally and historically.  The links between religious division and conflict and stereotyping and discrimination based on race and ethnicity were apparent to them from the beginning.

PREPARATION AND PLANNING

The Healthy Lifestyle Project receives support from the Scottish Government Education Directorate through its Health Promoting Schools programme, and from North Lanarkshire Council.  It has from its beginnings had a very important community dimension, combined with an understanding of the need to “think global” as well as to “act local”.

The project manager of the HLP has given particular attention to promoting the broad-spectrum nature of the project and this has carried over into the anti-sectarian and religious tolerance fields, through the establishment of the TRY2GETHER initiative, a partnership composed of the HLP, the Lanarkshire Global Education Centre, Sense Over Sectarianism (SOS), the Scottish Executive and North Lanarkshire Education Authority.

A decision was taken to work initially with five local Coatbridge secondary schools to promote TRY2GETHER through the planning and implementation of three key elements:

·        a youth conference held on 15 June 2005 focusing on the challenges presented by religious and racial intolerance, with the objectives of stimulating discussion of the key issues among local young people and of promoting respect for people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs

·        a one-day visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in Poland in order to offer young people the opportunity to experience at first hand the appalling consequences of religious intolerance in Europe in recent times (this journey, organised by MP Jim Murphy and MSP Ken Mackintosh with the support of the Holocaust Memorial Trust, was open to the pupils and staff of a wide range of Scottish schools, linking the TRY2GETHER contingent with a diverse group of their peers)

·        linkage with and contribution to the existing HLP-supported Airdrie/Coatbridge Community Youth Rugby Programme.

The TRY2GETHER team undertook the necessary planning and implementation of tasks associated with the three components, with, where possible, young people taking the major responsibility for the organisation involved.

N.B.    Those participating in TRY2GETHER arranged for all aspects of the project to be externally evaluated by Kevin Lowden, Senior Research Officer at the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE).  Extracts from his comprehensive reports are used extensively in the following sections, for which thanks and acknowledgement are given.

PROCESSES AND PRODUCTS

The TRY2GETHER Religious Intolerance Youth Conference

The core of the Youth Conference programme was peer led and comprised

·        team presentations from pupils from the Protestant Christian, Roman Catholic Christian and Muslim faiths, with the presenters relating what their faith means to them

·        a question and answer session that allowed participants to explore in more detail the topics covered by the presenters

·        workshops that focused on the participants’ ideas on how to address religious intolerance

·        a plenary to summarise and discuss workshop findings

·        the completion of evaluation questionnaires.

The content of the conference programme was designed to reflect and address racial and religious intolerance issues pertinent to some of the main religious groups in the local population, i.e. Catholic, Protestant and Muslim.  The conference organisers envisage follow-up events that address the beliefs and issues concerning other religious and ethnic groups in the local community.

Participants in the Youth Conference included pupils from the five local Coatbridge high schools (Coatbridge, St Ambrose, Columba, Rosehall and St Patrick’s).  These were volunteers who had expressed an interest in the topics covered by the conference.  There were 11 male and 21 female participants with the majority coming from S6 (19) and S5 (11) year groups; however, one pupil was from S3 and one from S4.

The one-day visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau

On 23 November 2005 pupils and teachers from the five high schools participated in a one-day visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Accompanying the pupils were teachers and representatives of North Lanarkshire Council Education Authority, the Healthy Lifestyle Project, the Lanarkshire Global Education Centre and Sense Over Sectarianism Initiative.  School pupils, staff and participants from other authorities also took part.

From the perspective of the TRY2GETHER initiative, the main aim of the visit was to complement the other strands of the project by emphasising the consequences of racial and religious intolerance and prejudice and to stress the relevance of the Holocaust to contemporary society.

The group travelled by air to Krakow Airport and then by bus to the two sites Auschwitz (Camp 1) and the larger Birkenau (Camp 2).  At each of the camps, the group was given a detailed tour by a Polish guide.  At Birkenau there was a simple, brief ceremony of remembrance led by Rabbi Barry Marcus.  The group the returned to the airport via the Jewish Quarter in Krakow.

A TRY2GETHER DVD was produced featuring the Religious Intolerance Conference and the visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau; it has been used extensively in the school and by North Lanarkshire Education Authority in awareness-raising sessions and as an aid to reflection among participating pupils and staff (see the section on future plans, below).

The Community Youth Rugby Initiative (CYRI)

The initial core aims of the CYRI focused on improving the physical health, confidence and transferable skills of young people, while contributing to reduced drug-taking and to “crime diversion”.  Through the linkage with TRY2GETHER seven Airdrie and Coatbridge secondary schools have subsequently signed up to a written agreement which formalises “the Anti-Sectarian Partnership” based on the CYRI. 

“The intent of this partnership is for denominational and non-denominational schools to gain a better understanding of each other’s backgrounds and beliefs, and foster friendships between pupils via the medium of rugby.”  A key element is the provision of “a strong peer-led approach … to challenge issues of bigotry, discrimination and stigmatisation”.  The Initiative is overseen by a representative Steering Group and aims for “a long-term sustainable arrangement”.

WHAT THE PUPILS LEARNED – as reported in Kevin Lowden’s evaluation report

The Learning Outcomes of the Religious Intolerance Youth Conference

Overall Impact

Of the 32 participants, 23 (72%) stated that they enjoyed all of the conference, and the remaining nine reported enjoying parts of it. All but four wanted to attend similar conferences.  Participants’ reasons for these positive responses were provided in their additional written comments.  These are summarised below.

The conference had

·        helped participants learn more about other religions, cultures and the beliefs of others

·        provided the opportunity to explore and discuss others’ points of view

·        increased awareness about the strength of feeling people can have for their religious beliefs

·        increased awareness of the problems that religious intolerance can cause

·        adopted a stimulating and interesting approach that allowed people to express their views.

Addressing Issues of Religious Intolerance

Participants’ recommendations included the following key points:

·          the need for more effective religious and moral education in schools

·        the desirability of increasing organised (as in the conference) and informal meetings and communications between diverse religious groups to promote mutual understanding

·        the importance of anti-sectarian initiatives among older people as well as school pupils

·        the need to increase the number of anti-sectarian role models and exemplars in sport and elsewhere

·        the value of restricting or prohibiting sectarian marches, especially those associated with conflict and violence

·        the recognition, raised particularly by Muslim pupils, that appreciating religious and ethnic diversity is a goal which requires sustained, long-term effort and institutional support in an environment which tends to be characterised by ignorance, stereotyping and discrimination

·        the need for further discussion on denominational schools and the nature and extent of religious intolerance.

Most participants reported greater awareness of sectarianism and religious intolerance, whereas others identified the belief that some people in their community did not always attempt to see their point of view, but applied to them labels based on myths and fear.

The Learning Outcomes of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Visit

·        Comments provided on the self-completion proforma highlighted that all of the North Lanarkshire group found the visit extremely valuable in terms of raising awareness about the historical account of events at the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps.

·        Even more evident was the strength of views across pupil and adult participants concerning the impact the visit had had on their resolve to work to challenge intolerance.

·        Common comments from participants included those that indicated that they believed they were well informed from documentaries and books about the subject matter of Auschwitz-Birkenau.  Following the visit, however, the majority stressed that the sheer detail of what happened as presented by the guides and displays had provided a new level of understanding.  The images of families, particularly women with infants and young children, going to their deaths in the gas chambers and the displays of belongings taken from those murdered were seen as particularly powerful in conveying some sense of what happened.

·        The views of adult participants concurred with those of the pupils.  Like the pupils, teachers and other adults stressed that statistics could only convey some of the horror of the Holocaust.  Seeing at first hand the facilities where millions of people were murdered, seeing their belongings and putting names and faces to the statistics had made them aware as never before of the importance of challenging intolerance in all its forms.

·        Another common theme in participants’ responses was a renewed sense of revulsion that humans could treat other humans with such systematic brutality and on an industrial scale.

·        Many pupils wrote that the visit had provided new insights on what happened at Auschwitz-Birkenau.  This would, they claimed, help them share the experience with others and, as one young woman stated, “to try and stop anything like this happening again”.

·        Three Muslim pupils who participated found the visit very moving and two stated that beforehand they were largely unaware of what had happened at Auschwitz-Birkenau.  Indeed, one stated that he had heard some details of what had happened but was not fully convinced.  The visit, he stressed, had changed this view.

·        Another pupil, a young woman from Columba High School, stated that “when we arrived at Auschwitz I didn’t really see why we were there”.  As the visit continued she stated that the experience would stay with her for the rest of her life “until we do something that can stop this from happening ever again”.

·        Other pupils stressed that they had been very aware of what had happened at Auschwitz-Birkenau but that the visit had served as a potent reminder of the atrocities committed by the Nazis at the camps and elsewhere during the Second World War.

·        These young people emphasised the need to ensure that these events were never forgotten because, far from being something of the past, such intolerance was present in UK society and globally, with political groups and others still advocating policies based on intolerance and hatred.

·        During the visit, some pupils had realised with alarm that the atrocities at Auschwitz-Birkenau were undertaken by “ordinary people just like you and me”.  This had highlighted for them that such events could happen again unless people were aware of the dangers of intolerance and challenged it when it arose.

·        One local authority representative who had been a History teacher agreed and stressed that the visit had reinforced the importance of teaching about the Holocaust as a way of “hopefully preventing similar events … it remains and should always remain a priority”.

The immediate impact of the visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau is evident; the challenge would now seem to be to build on this work and expand access to such experiences to others.

Learning Outcomes of the Community Youth Rugby Initiative

The valuation of this project does not give much attention to its anti-sectarian impact, other than the Airdrie-Coatbridge secondary schools twinning agreement.  However, the HLP Administrator and a parent indicated that it had contributed significantly to the making of contacts and friendships, “across the religious divide”, among both young people and participating adults.

SPECIFIC ANTI-SECTARIAN DEVELOPMENTS

·        A significant contribution to anti-sectarianism made by TRY2GETHER is the impetus given towards mainstreaming the consideration of sectarianism and religious intolerance in the upper school curriculum of Coatbridge and Airdrie high schools.  The success of the initiative has prompted serious consideration being given to sustaining it and to broadening its impact by applying its approach, with suitable adjustments, to the early high school and upper primary levels, where the HLP has already made considerable impact.

·        Those directly involved have also learned that young people often see the links between Christian inter-denominational sectarianism and the wider field of religious intolerance; in so doing they not only act more inclusively by recognising the specific issues currently facing adherents to Islam, but also encourage the development of historical perspectives and increase understanding of the religious and secular realms, in Scotland and elsewhere.

·        The DVD reflecting the content and impact of the Religious Intolerance Conference and the visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau has proved a very valuable resource in awareness-raising and staff development work.

·        The Airdrie-Coatbridge Twinning agreement is an explicit example of effective local action being taken to join up the aims and outcomes of such national educational priority initiatives as health promotion, anti-sectarianism and race equality.

MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP

The emphasis made by leading participants of the above initiatives is on the importance of team-working and shared values and objectives, both within and between the institutions and agencies involved, particularly the schools.  Despite differences in approach, role, function and ways of working, an effective coalition of organisations, individuals and communities has been achieved.

Leadership and commitment have combined with contributions from a very wide range of participants whose efforts have been encouraged, enabled and recognised in an effective and inclusive manner. 

CONTRIBUTIONS TO A CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE

As indicated above the Coatbridge schools’ initiative in the anti-sectarian/religious tolerance field have had wide-ranging beneficial effects on the range of people participating in them.  Specifically, in terms of A Curriculum for Excellence the school staff and the evaluation reports noted the following contributions in relation to the four capacities:

To Becoming Successful Learners

·        engagement with establishing and achieving learning outcomes

·        involvement in organising and reporting on events

·        combining study and information-gathering with debate and reflection

·        linking a variety of learning experiences in pursuit of wider understanding

·        exposure to imaginative and creative learning opportunities

Towards Responsible Citizenship

·        achieving a broader and deeper understanding of own and others’ beliefs, experiences and perspectives

·        witnessing how religious and ethnic differences impact on the lives of individuals, communities and countries, currently and in the past

·        gaining experience of how to bridge gaps between people of diverse backgrounds without requiring uniformity of belief or behaviour

·        mature involvement in issues of key importance to human development, locally and globally

To Gaining Confidence as Individuals

·        experience of participation in explorative learning in partnership with other schools and agencies

·        meeting the challenge of the unfamiliar, moving productively beyond “the comfort zone”

·        being treated as young adults while being offered support in difficult circumstances 

To Contributing Effectively

·        being provided with the opportunity, in a relatively safe space, to take risks and make key decisions

·        becoming progressively responsible for the organisation and effective running of key events and processes

·        involvement with a wide range of different and challenging people and circumstances

·        being offered the opportunity to engage with key social issues and to make choices about attitudes and behaviour, currently and in the future

FUTURE PLANS AND PROSPECTS / SPREADING GOOD PRACTICE

The TRY2GETHER DVD already referred to has been used each year since 2005 at a special Holocaust Day Commemoration Assembly for all senior pupils at Rosehall High School. The aim is to disseminate the experiences of the original group to a progressively larger body of pupils, enabling them to share and to consider, in a peer-led manner, the impact and possible outcomes of sectarianism and religious intolerance.

In January 2008, the Assembly will be held together with Coatbridge High School with which Rosehall will merge later that year. In Autumn 2007, a small group of pupils from both schools will take part in a further visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau as part of a North Lanarkshire initiative. The school management is committed to continuing such work and sharing it with others so that anti-sectarian education becomes a key aspect of school-community activity, neither “one-off” nor “bolt-on”.

A JOURNEY TO EXCELLENCE

The work in the fields of anti-sectarianism and religious intolerance based at  Rosehall High School reflects almost all of the Dimensions of Excellence itemised by HMIE, in particular:

Dimension 1:     engages young people in high-quality learning experiences

Dimension 2:     focuses on outcomes and maximises success for all learners

Dimension 4:     fosters high-quality leadership at all levels

Dimension 5:     works in partnerships with other agencies and the community

Dimension 6:     works together with parents to improve learning

Dimension 7:     reflects on its own work and thrives on challenge

Dimension 8:     values and empowers its staff and young people

Dimension 9:     promotes wellbeing and self-respect

Dimension 10:   develops a culture of ambition and achievement

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

For further information about the work of Rosehall High School, contact the headteacher.

Rosehall High

Woodhall Avenue

Coatbridge ML5 5DB

Headteacher:    Anne Bruce     

Telephone:        01236 431166

Email:               ht@rosehall.n-lanark.sch.uk