The eighth meeting of the Archer group took place on the 8th December 2021.
The group (named in honour of John Richard Archer, former Mayor of Battersea and the first black person to hold a senior public office in London) is an important voice within Emanuel and comprises school staff from across all employee positions and pupils of different ages and backgrounds. Its task is to review the school’s curriculum, structures and population, through the lenses of the diverse members of the Emanuel community.
Mr Andrews provided an update on the work of the Archer Group including: pupil involvement in an Eton college black history symposium; ACEN’s (African Caribbean Education Network ) Dr Shola Rogers’ support of a student application to Emanuel; senior staff contact with Flair’s (an organisation working with 65 independent schools) Kiki Nartey to explore their work encouraging an anti-racist culture; historian Sean Creighton’s scheduled Sixth Form assembly on John Archer; pupil contact with the Black Heroes Foundation’s Joyce Fraser, Chair of Trustees, regarding a possible workshop on John Archer; a summary of the hugely successful Black History Week; a possible Archer social event involving the Bob Marley musical, ‘Get Up, Stand Up!’ at the Lyric Theatre in Spring/Summer 2022; a notice board to be put up in the school and the updating of the Archer publicity film to include all pupil members of the Archer Group.
Ms Johnson presented the findings of a departmental diversity survey and Dr Donn shared details of the work of the English department in this important area.
Pupils met together in a breakout room to discuss the issues raised and fed back to the whole group in a plenary session (minutes of the discussion are available on Firefly).
Mr Andrews (Senior Tutor)