Inclusive Ethos

Chobham is a school where all students are recognised as individuals and valued for their own unique personalities and talents. At Chobham, everyone is encouraged to be the best they can be and nobody is allowed to fail. Our school values of Excellence, Respect, Honesty, Empathy, Curiosity and Inclusion help us to keep personal development and caring for others at the centre of our thinking.

We are a richly diverse inner London community and celebrate being a truly comprehensive school. At Chobham, we respect our differences and everyone is welcome. Within our school community, nobody is overlooked.  Our house and tutor group systems make sure that all students are known and that their achievements are recognised.

We understand the key importance of young people being able to give their views in a confident, reasoned and informed way and of their being able to listen to the views of others.  We appreciate that developing the attitudes which enable discussion and effective listening to take place take time and need to be planned.  Through our lessons, our Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) sessions and our Citizenship activities, we support students in developing the skills and outlook which help make them active and positive citizens.

Our Youth Leadership Team (YLT) is the formal structure through which the school conducts consultation with students. Each tutor group and year group contributes its views to the YLT. We also have Sixth Form Leadership Team led by our Head Students.

At Chobham, we do believe that schools have a role to play in assisting young people to develop a moral perspective which will help them to lead a healthy, happy life and through their actions to benefit others. Our assembly and PSHE programmes and the frequency and quality of day to day discussion between staff and students help our students to think in a community centred way.

Respect for one another’s lifestyles and an understanding of others’ perspectives are integral elements of our school culture at Chobham. We promote an open and inclusive approach to issues surrounding disability, race and ethnicity, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, age marriage/civil partnerships and parenthood. The Academy has a zero tolerance approach towards any form of bullying.

We believe that having a shared sense of identity amongst Chobham students contributes to inclusion at the school.  Hence having a consistent approach to uniform supports equality and gives students a sense of community identity.  However, within our uniform policy we recognise the particular circumstances or groups within the community and wherever possible the policy reflects and celebrates these differences.

Students are helped to understand the attitudes and beliefs that are protected by law and form part of British Values.  These values are not just taught but are embedded in our school life and ethos.  British Values include; individual liberty, the rule of law, democracy, tolerance for those of different faiths and beliefs, mutual respect and awareness and tolerance of communities which are different to our own.  The promotion of British Values is expected of schools nationally but these areas overlap naturally with our own philosophy at Chobham.  An appreciation of British Values helps prepare our students for life in modern Britain, giving them the confidence to understand their place in society and to support one another, challenging discrimination and extremist attitudes.  These principles also underpin our academic curriculum and are taught through every subject.

We strongly believe that students should not merely be taught about our values but that they are embedded into all aspects of school life.  Indeed, every interaction between members of the school community should embody Chobham’s values.  We strive to support our students in developing into confident, happy successful young adults who have a sympathy for and understanding of those less fortunate than themselves and a passion to improve the society they are part of.

A recent development in our approach to inclusion has been to review and publicise our approach to the use of pronouns in school. Here are our principles:

The Academy will ensure that -

• Guidance is given on the use of inclusive language to continue to build a culture that does not assume that an individual’s gender identity automatically aligns with their preferred pronoun.
• Staff development is provided to raise awareness of inclusive language, the importance of getting pronouns right and not making assumptions.
• Staff and students are invited to share their pronouns in their email signature, after their name.
• Staff and students are invited to share their pronouns on their identity card.
• Speakers and representatives that are invited into the Academy will be asked to share their pronouns when introducing themselves, if they feel comfortable to do so.
• Visitors to the academy will be asked to share their pronouns via their identity badge.
• Staff and students are expected to use a person’s preferred name when it is not necessary to use their legal name.