Latest news with #WalesHighSchool
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Rotherham riots spark school debate on immigration
On 4 August 2024 a violent mob chanting "high-octane racist abuse" lay siege to a hotel being used to house asylum seekers near Rotherham, resulting in more than 80 people being jailed. In the wake of the rioting two schools in nearby Sheffield have been using the events to discuss immigration and reflect on the impact of the disorder. Wales High School in Kiveton Park's intake is predominantly white British, but at Oasis Academy, on the site of the old Don Valley Stadium, 97% of children are from ethnic minority backgrounds. Wales High's assistant headteacher, Hannah Feerick, said some of the student body could be "vulnerable to right-wing ideologies", while at Oasis, the focus is on ensuring children feel safe and welcome in their new country. Ms Feerick said: "It is really important that we are able to provide a balanced education for the students so that they can voice safely their opinions, but we also can challenge safely any misconceptions that they may have." The school has added more PHSE (personal, social, health and economic issues) lessons to the curriculum to allow for discussion about immigration. It said it had not recorded any increases in incidents of racial discrimination at the school. Year 10 students spoke to the BBC during Immigration Week. Beth said: "I think it's really important that everyone is educated on things like this, because it's when people aren't, that's what leads to views that are harmful. They don't fully understand it so that makes them feel threatened. "I think that's why things like this happen, they feel they need to blame someone, so they just blame the most vulnerable person or the most vulnerable group." Sophia remembered rehearsing for a show in Sheffield during the Manvers riots and her teacher locking the doors behind them in fear of the disorder spreading. "It was the realisation that it feels unsafe to be out in town at night," she said. "I remember talking to people about it because there was a lack of understanding and people were unsure of what was true and what was false." Immigration explained: Migrants, refugees, and visas defined The violence was triggered by the deaths of three schoolgirls in a knife attack in Southport, Merseyside. Rumours spread that the attacker was an immigrant from a Muslim background who had arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel illegally. Axel Rudakubana, who was eventually jailed for the murders, was born in Cardiff to Rwandan parents of Christian faith. Another pupil at Wales High, James, said: "I thought it was quite shocking - it is really quite scary to think that these are people living in the community and it is scary to think that these sorts of attitudes are so widely accepted." Ten miles away at Oasis Academy, it is acknowledged that anti-immigration rhetoric affects many pupils personally. They come from 46 different countries and regularly learn about each other's cultures. Eshaal, 13, said: "I'm an immigrant myself. I moved here when I was six, I moved for my education and this really upset me because I don't like the way that immigrants are being grouped or classed." Nafiesa, 11, said: "It makes me feel upset how people are just describing immigrants as just one large group of people. "They describe them as horrid, like they don't belong here." Sandra, 14, came to Sheffield from Slovakia when she was four years old. She said: "We came for a better experience, and we do have a lot of opportunities but we also have a lot of bad experiences. We get a lot of racist comments. "I am worried about the future because we came here for a better life, and what if people attack us instead. What if we get more hate, which makes us leave?" She said her school was very inclusive, allowing pupils to learn about other cultures through music, food and celebrations. Assistant principal Dana Abdulkarim said: "Immigration is incredibly important because we are a global school. "Ninety seven per cent of Oasis Academy Don Valley from 2-16 are from non-white communities. "We are represented by 46 different countries, 26 different languages. "It would be remiss of us to not lean into that and embrace it as our unique element as an education centre." She added: "Given what happened at the Holiday Inn in Rotherham last year, we reviewed our curriculum. "We looked at where we are with recognising diversity, and what kind of uncomfortable conversations do we need to have with our children? "These kind of issues can make a child retreat and as educators, we have to teach children beyond the curriculum. "Immigration is who they are." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here. Immigration explained: Migrants, refugees, and visas defined Officers 'thought they would die' at hotel riot Watchdog says police unprepared for scale of riots Riot hotel will no longer house asylum seekers Wales High School Oasis Academy Don Valley
Telegraph
18-02-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Teacher was sacked after sharing his views on same-sex marriage during diversity day, tribunal hears
A teacher at an Anglican school was sacked after sharing his views about abortion and same-sex marriage during a during a diversity training day, a tribunal has heard. Ben Dybowski, a Catholic, was dismissed from The Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School near Cardiff following the training event in March 2023. The school held a session delivered by Diverse Cymru Training in March 2023, and Mr Dybowski asked the trainer about expressing personal beliefs and if they amounted to discrimination. He said his view was that true marriage is a union between a man and a woman, that human life begins at conception and abortion is the taking of innocent human life and he was critical of some aspects of Sharia law, the tribunal heard. The trainer said that the claimant was free to hold such views but that expressing them might be 'regarded as discrimination', the Cardiff tribunal was told. The hearing was also told he quietly took opportunities to discuss his views with pupils and staff on a number of occasions. Mr Dybowski had a meeting with headteacher Marc Belli the next day after other members of staff expressed concern about the views, the tribunal heard. During the meeting, Mr Dybowski discussed his social media activity and how he often expresses his beliefs, including topics like same-sex marriage and Islam, the tribunal was told. Mr Belli reminded him of social media guidelines and the Education Workforce Council (EWC) regulations, explaining that expressing his views, when publicly expressed, could potentially harm students or staff, especially given the school's diverse community and values, the tribunal heard. Mr Dybowski's employment at the school, where he had worked as a teaching assistant since October 2022, was later terminated. His claims of harassment and direct discrimination related to his religious and protected beliefs were dismissed by the tribunal, with the judge saying the school could exercise a degree of control over how beliefs 'manifested' in accordance with its values. The tribunal also ruled that his criticisms of Sharia law were an opinion and therefore not a protected belief. Judge Samantha Moore said Mr Dybowski's views on marriage, abortion and gender amounted to protected beliefs but that his critical aspects of Sharia law were deemed an opinion and are not protected. The judge said it was clear that Mr Belli wanted the claimant not to manifest the views in any way he had during the training event and found that 'none of what subsequently ensued was because the claimant held his particular beliefs'. She said it was 'reasonable' for Mr Belli to have become very concerned and reach a conclusion that he could not trust that Mr Dybowski would refrain from inappropriate discussions with pupils. The judge added: 'The claimant has a right to hold his beliefs and to manifest them but he is under the same prohibitions as the rest of society to not discriminate or harass others. 'Every circumstance turns on the particular facts of the claim. '(The Bishop of Llandaff Church In Wales school) was entitled to want to exercise a degree of control over how beliefs were manifested within the school environment in accordance with the school's values given the potential power imbalance between teachers and pupils and in the context of potentially vulnerable pupils.'
