What we’ve done so far – and next steps 

The GDST is committed to diversity, inclusion and real change, and social justice will be even more of a golden thread that runs through our work in the coming months and years. GDST schools strive to be inclusive environments in which the wellbeing of every young person comes first, and where every girl – no matter her background – can learn without limits.

Since 2020, we have: 

• Finalised our  Undivided Charter for Action.
• Appointed an Undivided Trust Consultant to lead on sharing best practice across GDST schools and implementing our Charter for Action. 
• Introduced mandatory unconscious bias training for all our staff, as a first step to raising awareness of the issues. 
• Held workshops for our Heads, with expert-led discussion to stimulate debate and share best practice (external and internal) on inclusivity. 
• Introduced training for teaching staff to help them review and update their subject curriculum. 
• Good practice on diversity and inclusion as part of every Subject Collaboration Day and Junior Curriculum Leadership training seminar
• Surveyed all students aged 10 and above to learn more about our pupils’ experiences of diversity and inclusion in their schools. 
• Diversity, inclusion and real change feature on the annual school reviews for 2021. 
•  Arranged an expert GDST talk for parents about how to talk to their child about racism. 

Our next steps are: 

• Once we have the baseline data from staff and student surveys, setting challenging targets to bring about real change across the organisation. 
• Setting up two Trust-wide Undivided student councils. 
• Supporting schools to develop action plans in response to feedback from the Undivided student survey. 
• Further developing our Undivided professional development opportunities. 
• Launching a mentoring scheme to support alumnae from diverse ethnic backgrounds.