ACfE case studies
Glengowan Primary, South Lanarkshire
Glengowan Primary School is a non-denominational school in Larkhall. As the oldest and largest primary school in the area, Glengowan is very much at the heart of the community. Glengowan currently (2006/7) has a school roll of 391 with 22 teaching staff and 10 support employees. Its free school meal entitlement is below South Lanarkshire and national averages.
Glengowan Primary is part of the Larkhall Learning Community. Larkhall Learning Community comprise of one secondary school, nine primary schools and a children’s centre. The Learning Community is supported by specialist teams such as the Psychological Services, Integrated Children’s Services, Support Services as well as those who address areas like Early Intervention, Home School Partnerships and Active Schools.
Much of the good work on anti-sectarian education cited in this case study is part of the anti-sectarian education initiative taken forward by the Larkhall Learning Community.
Taking an anti-sectarian initiative
Larkhall is an area whose communities and agencies feel has been ‘blighted by the reputation of sectarianism.’ The school acknowledges that sectarianism exists but feels that the efforts from within the community to address the issue are often overlooked particularly by the media.
The Larkhall Learning Community decided to be pro-active in addressing sectarianism through education. The Community agreed to use monies provided to them via the A Curriculum for Excellence (ACE) fund to take forward anti-sectarian education with all Primary 7s in the Learning Community and with pupils from Larkhall Academy. This initiative also included P7 pupils from St. Mary’s Primary who form part of the Holy Cross Learning Community.
Preparation and planning
The Learning Community schools decided to work with Nil by Mouth (NBM) in taking this work forward. NBM ran a workshop for P7 pupils, in the schools within the Learning Community. The workshop raised pupils' awareness and understanding of sectarianism. For most pupils of primary school age, the specific concept of 'sectarianism' is new although they are familiar with the language, stereotypes and behaviour, which relate to sectarianism.
The focus was very much on providing factual information and stimulating discussion among the pupils to achieve the following aims:
Introduce the concept of 'sectarianism' and raise the pupils' understanding and awareness of the problems it causes in our society e.g. prejudice, name-calling, bullying, violence
Encourage pupils to think about and discuss their own views on sectarianism while engaging with the views of others
Empower young people to challenge sectarianism in their everyday lives
The workshop helped set the scene for learning more about sectarianism. The schools saw this as part of their Personal, Social and Health Development (PSHD) and Education for Citizenship curriculum. In taking forward anti-sectarian education, the schools were building on the work they had already done around race equality with programs such as All Different, All Equal.
Glengowan and other learning community school staff were encouraged to attend education authority provided continuing professional development opportunities on ‘Challenging Sectarianism’. As a member of the South Lanarkshire Equal Opportunities Advisory Group, the Glengowan Headteacher attended an event at St. Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art where anti-sectarian workshops help pupils learn about ways to tackle sectarianism in Scotland.
Although there was no pre-initiative baseline monitoring undertaken, feedback and pupil learning were recorded after the workshop.
Processes and products
In addition to the workshop by Nil By Mouth, Glengowan Primary’s P7 pupils began reading Theresa Breslin’s novel A Divided City, already in use by other Learning Community schools. Glengowan Primary’s Pupil Council attended an assembly based on the novel, returning enthusiastic about using the novel and addressing the issue of sectarianism. The novel was both a home reader and in class activity.
The schools within the Learning Community took part in an “Arts for All'' Day at Larkhall Academy. The day included a poster event about what pupils thought about anti-sectarianism, anti-racism and related issues.
Pupils also took part in a day out at Hampden, joining P7 pupils from the other primaries in the Learning Community as well as with pupils from Larkhall Academy. At Hampden, pupils had an opportunity to engage in activities provided by agencies like Nil by Mouth and Sense Over Sectarianism that further reinforced their learning on anti-sectarianism. Other fun activities included Boxercise warm-up sessions where students were encouraged to get fit rather than engage in violence. They also met the author Theresa Breslin who signed copies of her books and led a workshop on how she wrote her novel.
What the pupils learned
The interactive NBM workshop explored sectarianism through the pupils' responses to different sports strips. Working in groups of no more than six, 'thinking music' was played while each group discussed and picked out three words from a range of flash cards featuring opinions and feelings such as 'hate', 'enemy', 'love', happy', 'sporting' and 'friend'.
Each group reported back to the class about their three responses to each sports strip, which were used as props. First, they used their school sports team, followed by Scotland football strips and then the Old Firm team tops held together.
Responses to the first two strips were generally very positive though the Rangers and Celtic strips together provoked a range of reactions about the attitudes of the pupils' and people in their communities towards each strip.
For each response the key question asked of the pupils was 'why?' All the groups had to explain to the class their reasons for each response.
The responses to the Old Firm strips allowed workshop facilitators to explore and discuss a range of attitudes and behaviour in relation to sectarianism and provided pupils with an opportunity to express their views on this.
The meaning of sectarianism was then explored by asking the pupils to describe what 'racism' means, a concept most were more familiar with. A link was made by explaining that sectarianism was also about negative attitudes and behaviour towards other people but because of religion and beliefs rather than nationality or skin colour.
The story of Mark Scott's murder and how it led to Cara Henderson launching Nil by Mouth highlighted the personal consequences of sectarianism. The story discussed the impact on Scott’s friends and family as well as those of Jason Campbell, whom is also described as a victim of sectarian himself due to his upbringing having caused him to hate people of a different faith.
Rounding off with the theme of challenging sectarianism, the pupils then looked at the three ways they could respond to sectarianism when encountered:
Negative - retaliating and creating more sectarianism
Passive - ignoring it. This means not taking part but the person responsible does not change either
- Positive - standing up to it when they feel it is safe to do so and questioning sectarian attitudes and language. This contributes to making a real difference
The workshop concluded with a round up of the learning outcomes that NBM and pupils agreed upon at the beginning of the workshop.
The school indicated that the critical thinking skills of pupils were developed through anti-sectarian education. Pupils can often hear differing views at school, home, with their peers and in the communities they come from. The anti-sectarian education sessions have given the pupils the ability to consider these different views and to have the confidence to formulate their own views on sectarianism and difference.
Management and leadership
This issue has received high priority within the authority as well as within the Learning Community. This enabled headteachers and senior staff to progress with anti-sectarian education in a supported environment.
Senior managers have begun to mainstream the anti-sectarian message into a range of curricular areas and to ensure the issues are not viewed as only relevant to PSHD.
The Head of the Learning Community wrote to all P7 parents to inform them of the anti-sectarian education initiative. Parents were highly supportive of the school’s work in this area.
Glengowan Primary is now considering how they can take forward anti-sectarian education across the school from P1 – P7. They are considering permeating the issue across the differing year groups by using the method developed by Glendale Primary School, Glasgow on anti-racism.
Contributions to ‘A Curriculum for Excellence’
In relation to the four capacities, the school listed the following contributions made by undertaking this anti-sectarian initiative:
- Develop understanding of different beliefs and cultures
- Make informed choices and decisions
- Develop informed ethical views of complex issues
- Assess risk and take informed decisions
To Gaining Confidence as Individuals
- Communicate in different ways and in different settings
- Work in partnership and in teams
Future plans and spreading of good practice
Conversations have begun between denominational and non-denominational schools to take forward possible joint activities and learning in this area in the future.
The school would like to explore how it can encourage greater parental involvement, for example, by running parent workshops and sharing the Breslin novel with parents.
- encouraging further CPD for staff in this area.
- incorporating structured sections in different parts of the curriculum e.g. into English, Environmental Studies.
- extending the work to look at other issues of intolerance. For example, the school has taught about Islam but feels it now needs to enhance what has been taught with looking at other aspects such Islamophobia.
Journey to Excellence
The school has completed a first stage on the journey to excellence in equality and fairness in respect to anti-sectarian education. The school has addressed many of the ten dimensions of A Journey to Excellence, in particular:
Dimension 1: Engages young people in the highest quality learning activities
Dimension 4: Fosters high quality leadership at all levels
Dimension 5: Works in partnership with other agencies and its community
Dimension 7: Reflects on its own work and thrives on challenge
Dimension 8: Values and empowers its staff and young people
Dimension 9: Promotes well being and respect
Pupils have been offered opportunities to develop many of the qualities of A Curriculum for Excellence through the topic of anti-sectarian education, and the school had indicated they feel, this has impacted on two particular aspects of ACE : to create effective contributors and responsible citizens.
For more information about the work of Glengowan Primary, contact the Headteacher