Sector bodies and national associations have come together to demonstrate their commitment to, and actions taken in, tackling issues related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in education. As signatories, we want our key stakeholders – pupils, families, staff, governors, leaders – to know that we are prepared to learn, listen and act on our shared concerns and that together we can achieve our ambitions for better DEI across the school system.

This is a public statement by organisations working in the education sector to demonstrate commitment to playing their part in acknowledging the issues and furthering DEI in schools and trusts by taking action. We are working in a number of ways: independently, together and through our networks. Signatories will hold each other to account for delivering on these aims and will be held to account by our respective members and stakeholders. By being transparent about our actions, we want to give confidence to pupils and families, staff and leaders and those governing that we are learning, listening and acting on their concerns and ambitions for DEI.

The progress and impact of these commitments will be reviewed every 12 months and an updated statement published. You can read the full document.

Hannah Wilson, Founder and Director of the BelongingEffect (formerly Diverse Educators), said:

“Our children in our schools are diverse and our schools serve diverse communities, thus we need to ensure that we have diverse representation at every level of the school system. Diversity, equity, inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) need to be a strategic priority for every school, for every leadership team and for every governing board to ensure that we create a sense of belonging for all. We need a coherent and cohesive system-wide approach to addressing the inequities and barriers that oppress and marginalise groups of educators so that we can recruit, develop, retain and promote diverse educators. DEIB needs to be a golden thread that runs through every policy, every practice, every person in every school. There are a lot of good intentions but we must focus on taking action, building momentum and having an impact to create a legacy for all.”