The Charter - building an inclusive culture
Building an inclusive community and culture across local schools and sixth forms was a priority for Wimbledon High School in the wake of Everyone's Invited. On 1 December 2021, students, staff and parents from Wimbledon High School and King's College School gathered to mark the launch of The Charter - a significant moment for both schools and the outcome of months of student led collaboration.
As Year 13 student Chloe W said in her address at the launch: "The shocking testimonies recounted by Everyone’s Invited brought to light engrained behaviours that are unacceptable and which have been disregarded in our society for far too long. In the wake of this movement, conversation has been sparked between the two schools and since the summer of the last academic year, those involved in the Charter group have worked tirelessly to create a Charter which not only establishes the basic values that will underpin the actions of both communities moving forward but is also predominantly a student-led initiative. In creating the Charter, we are striving to foster a more sustainable and healthy relationship between the two communities, for future generations as well as our own."
Particular points of focus in deepening our culture of safeguarding have been:
- Adjustment to the PSHE/RSE provision
- Influence of wider society on behaviours and values
- Scholastic and social collaboration between schools
- How to make all voices heard
On 16 June 2022 we held a parent event 'Making Informed Choices', where a panel of experts answered questions on how families can help build an inclusive culture.
Deputy Head Pastoral Ben Turner explained: "When setting out the Charter strategy, since its launch last year, it has been our aim to hold one significant event every term that brings together a key element, or elements, of our communities. This term, we are focusing on our parents, and thinking about how we can equip ourselves for some of the tough decisions that we all must make when it comes to allowing teenagers the space to be themselves, while ensuring they are safe and making informed decisions."
Flickr album: The Charter Student Leadership Conference |
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Read more about our guest speakers below:
Alicia is passionate about providing evidenced-based advice to parents, teachers and all those looking after children and young people, so they can be pro-active in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of those in their care. Alicia also works directly with children and young people empowering them to look after their mental health and wellbeing. She draws on the latest research from psychotherapy, psychology and neuroscience, along with her experience of working as an adolescent therapist.
Alicia is a BACP accredited therapist, parenting expert, sought after keynote speaker, member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for a Fit and Healthy Childhood, author and a mother. She is regularly sought for her expert opinion by the media.
Having worked with schools across the UK for more than a decade delivering webinars, talks and workshops to parents, carers, staff, and pupils; in 2020 Alicia created The Wellbeing Hub. This award-winning platform provides schools with a whole school, pro-active approach to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of young people, now in over 130 schools in the UK, impacting over 84,000 pupils.
The Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation is a drug and alcohol education charity that aims to support young people to make safe choices about drugs and alcohol and reduce harm. We do this through increasing understanding of the effects and risks, and helping to develop life skills and resilience. The Foundation was set up in January 2014 by Tim and Fiona Spargo-Mabbs in response to the death of their 16-year-old son Daniel having taken ecstasy.
As Dan's Mum, Fiona has led on the development and management of the Foundation from the start, from delivery to students and co-ordination with schools. She has been full-time Director since July 2016. She brings a wide range and depth of experience from fifteen years of working in education at operational and strategic management levels. Fiona began work as an English teacher in adult education, teaching GCSE and A-level as well as adult literacy within Family Learning, working at all levels from Entry 1 to post-graduate teacher training. Taking on increasing levels of management responsibility, and working within a broader educational context at local authority, regional and national levels, she gained many of the skills and experience needed for her current role within the DSM Foundation. Her passionate commitment to do all she can to prevent what happened to her son happening to anyone else drives everything she does.
Dr Easmon trained at St George's Hospital Medical School in South London and performed his medical elective period in Ghana. Since then he has worked with a number of international medical organisations and charities including Merlin, Raleigh International and Save the Children in Rwanda, and ECHO in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan.
Charlie’s deep interest is in mental and occupational health in the corporate setting, and particularly within high stress arenas. He has wide ranging experiences into the consequences of staff working in varying conditions. He is concerned about the aspect of late referrals and how the all-too-often lack of appropriate mental health support resources can impact on the well-being of his patients. He talks to young people about the range of mental health issues that affect people today. Drawing on his own experience of working with patients he discusses stress; clinal depression; OCD; self-harm, anorexia & other eating disorders; and raised anxiety states. Charlie also talks to students about the effects of pornography on relationships, what it can lead to, the lack of respect, and the hijacking of sexuality and the desensitising of young people.
Charlie now provides occupational health and mental health services to many of the top FT100 companies based in the City of London and has been featured often in the press including Time Out magazine and on CNN African Voices.
You can read The Charter in full here
Deanna Puccio of the RAP Project reminded all of the prevalence of sexual violence within society and the need to shift cultures. She went on to praise both schools for developing The Charter, which she sees as a blueprint for schools nationally. You can read about the RAP Project, with whom Wimbledon High have worked for many years, here.