Shawlands Academy is a non-denominational secondary school in the Southside of Glasgow. There are approximately 1360 pupils.

Shawlands Academy is one of Scotland's most culturally diverse secondary schools, comprising approximately:

• 45% ethnic minority groups
• 45% white British
• 7.5% from other white backgrounds
• 40% of pupils register have English as an additional language

A significant number of pupils who have a south-east Asian cultural background, which is reflective of the rich mix of nationalities.

This case study illustrates the initiatives led by the Equalities Principal Teacher (PT) to continue to improve inclusion and equality across the richly diverse whole school community.

The PT Equalities is an alumna of the Building Racial Literacy programme and an Anti-Racism Mentor with Education Scotland.

Inclusion in the school improvement plan

Equalities has been identified on the school improvement plan. Sessions and initiatives have included:

From 2023 to 2024:

• continuing to improve inclusion and equality across the whole school community
• embedding the Rights Respecting Charter across the school community and beginning to develop values-based approaches across the school
• ensuring pupils’ experience in Shawlands Academy reflects the school values of Equality, Integrity, Respect and Compassion

From 2024 to 2025:

• continuing to embed the Rights Respecting School charter across the curriculum
• increasing the visibility of rights across the school, in policies, posters, lessons and assemblies
• developing the understanding of the School Charter to include hyperlinks and inputs in Assemblies, Personal and Social Education (PSE) and other opportunities

A baseline of data from across the school community was gathered to inform the above initiatives.

Data

51% of pupils reported having experienced a racist incident in school, the majority of pupils identified raising the profile of equalities and education/training as primary solutions.

79% of staff expressed the need for training and guidelines to support to confidently tackle racism within the school community.

Observations 

Qualitative data revealed that almost all staff felt that the majority of racist incidents in the school centred around use of microaggressions and prejudiced language. 

Views 

Groups discussion with pupils in Shawlands Academy Anti-Racism Association (SAARA) and the Equalities committee highlighted the need for:

• increased opportunities for pupil voice
• training modules for pupils to enable victims to feel heard and supported when faced with a racist incident 

Professional dialogue with staff across the school highlighted the widespread use of prejudiced language in various groups, between pupils and within ethnic groups.

Views gathered from the SAARA Equalities Committee meetings have identified education as the most effective method to change the long-term views and behaviour of pupils who continue to use prejudiced language. 

Priorities identified 

This evidence-based approach highlighted addressing the use of prejudiced language, as well as the need for staff and pupil support materials. To ensure a concise and cohesive approach, 2 main areas of focus were identified for the 2023 to 2025 sessions.  

From 2023 to 2024: 

• development of pupil and staff-led Equalities steering committees
• enhancement of the existing Shawlands Academy Anti-Racism Association (SAARA)

A further agreed focus was that the pupil-led groups would draw up their own agendas, collaborate on activities and co-create the staff and pupils anti-racism resources with the PT Equalities and the staff Equalities steering committee.

This collaborative approach extended to:

• a series of personal and social education (PSE) lessons on prejudiced language for S1 to S3
• a series of lessons to address prejudiced language across the umbrella of Equalities

From 2024 to 2025:

• support form Shawlands Academy Values Ambassadors – especially those focusing on Equality – by establishing working groups within the BGE and Senior Phase that feed into the Rights Respecting School Award and implementation of the whole school charter
• enhancing the visibility of Equality across the school, in policies, poster, and lessons
• supporting departments and faculties with their improvement plans by auditing existing BGE curricula and content
• begin discussions regarding how best to decolonise existing curricula and integrate anti-racist education throughout lessons

Working with partners 

Partners include

• all stakeholders within the school – young people, families and staff 
• Glasgow City Council Equalities Team
• Youth Community Support Agency (YCSA)
• Intercultural Youth Scotland

Actions taken 

Actions taken include:

• extensive anti-racism training modules for pupils and staff
• development of support packs for victims and perpetrators of incidents involving prejudiced language
• established and collaborated with pupil led anti-racism group, agenda and activities and equalities steering groups
• PSE lessons that address prejudiced language targeted at Broad General Education (BGE) from S1 to S3
• pupil-led culture day in 2025
• BGE and senior Equalities working groups
• resources helped to embed core values of the school
• resources reflect pupil voice through the Rights Respecting school charter and Equality policy
• achieving Bronze Rights Respecting School Award and continuing to work towards silver

Anti-racism training

Gathering views from Equalities BGE and senior working groups will help to shape development of future modules. Feedback showed:

• 95% of pupils found the training useful
• pupils are able to now identify historical context of racial slurs and impact on today's society
• Increased confidence in pupils and staff with regards to addressing incidents and use of appropriate strategies

Culture day

Qualitative data gathered from the Shawlands Academy Anti-Racism Association highlighted a need to increase the visibility of the diversity of the school community. 

The PT Equalities established a culture day working group. They worked with the school community as well as families and the local businesses to organise the 2025 event.

Quantitative data gathered after the event revealed that:

• pupils and staff expressed that it made them feel more connected and included in the school community
• 80% of pupil and 85% of staff would like to see Culture day become an annual school event

The PT Equalities also worked with school captains to share this feedback with family partnerships to demonstrate the school's commitment to creating a more inclusive environment which celebrates diversity.

Challenges and how they were addressed

Timetabling and staffing

Equalities staff and pupil steering committees must be established early on during the academic year in order to allow sufficient time to map out priorities and action plans.

A variety of delivery models were trialled for anti-racism resources and feedback indicates that pupil-led, enquiry-based models proved the most effective to support deeper learning and develop critical racial literacy.

Group-based restorative formats would be most useful for the pupil training following racist incidents in maximise impact.

Survey management

Staff surveys need improvement in terms of engagement. Pupil surveys required protected class time to ensure engagement following training modules.

Successes, sustainability and next steps

Successes included:

• Bronze Rights Respecting School Award
• Gold LGBT Award
• establishing a strong culture of collaboration, openness, and learner‑centred decision-making

As next steps, the school planned to:

• re‑survey at an appropriate time.
• continue network building with schools and agencies.
• integrate current initiatives and data gathered into an updated Equality Policy.
• continue initiatives led by the pupil groups to embed the school’s values across the school community