Student Workshops

Student Workshops

Our workshops are tailored to address the most pressing challenges in schools, guided by historical context, data, and continuous feedback from educators, parents, students, and institutions themselves.

Why Choose ACEN and Our Collaborative, Facilitator-Led Training?

ACEN’s approach is rooted in lived experience, educational expertise, and a deep understanding of racial inclusion within schools. Our collaborative, facilitator-led model ensures that sessions are interactive, reflective, and tailored to your community’s unique needs, driving lasting cultural change, not just compliance.

We know from feedback that this work is most impactful when everyone is engaged in the conversation and feels safe to ask questions. Our facilitators are skilled in creating spaces for honest, constructive dialogue, acknowledging that conversations about race are often rare and typically occur in contexts of debate rather than meaningful exchange. We also recognise the value of learning from each other, in acknowledgement that many of the challenges, and the less obvious ways of causing offence, are not unique to any one group, and have, at some point, been experienced or enacted by us all.

Each facilitator brings deep insight into the distinct challenges faced by a range of educational settings, whether state or independent, junior or senior, racially diverse or predominantly white spaces. They guide participants in navigating sensitive issues with empathy, knowledge, and confidence.

Our team’s strength lies in its diversity of perspectives, spanning all levels of the school community, from Governance to Senior Leadership Teams and classroom staff. At the heart of our practice is a commitment to centring the lived experiences of (nationally) racially minoritised students, parents, and teachers, ensuring our work remains grounded, relevant, and impactful.

To evidence this, a selection of testimonials from student workshops can be found at the bottom of this page.

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Introduction to Racial Inclusion

Year Groups: 5 & 6 (younger years on request)
Timing: 60 – 90 minutes

The session includes a whole year presentation (45 mins) and an interactive workshop (75 mins), delivered in smaller groups of approx. 20-30 students per ACEN facilitator.

These workshops include breakout activities, videos, and learning games that help children understand the experiences of others, apply more empathetic and thoughtful thinking, and grow in racial literacy. In addition, students will be exposed to overt and covert forms of discrimination such as microaggressions, and how they manifest.

This workshop will help students gain a greater understanding of racial inclusion issues and how they impact on belonging.

The content covers:

Black British history
Understanding stereotypes, discrimination, race, and racism
Understanding bias
Understanding fairness, equality & equity
Empathetic thinking and strategies to respond to situations on behalf of others

Understanding Recent UK-Based Racial Equality Movements

Year Groups: 7-13
Timing: 60 – 75 minutes

This session consists of an interactive and mixed medium presentation that will help students understand and contextualise the history behind recent racial inclusion movements within the UK, and consider the factors that have impacted racial inequality, biases, stereotypes, microaggressions, and prejudice that exist today.

The presentation will explore:

History of race and discrimination
History of major migration groups to the UK
Experiences on arrival – exploring areas such as housing, employment, and schooling
Tracking those experiences into structural inequality today such as health, education, employment, and group economics
Equality & Equity
Understanding bias and where it comes from

Understanding Bias, Overt and Covert Discriminatory Language & Impact

Year Groups: 7-13
Timing: 60 – 90 minutes (or as below)

This session consists of an interactive workshop that will help students to walk away with language and practical tools to recognise and address discriminatory and microaggressive thinking and actions (race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation based ) that might occur in their own environments and grow in racial literacy.

The workshops will help students to:

Understand bias
Understand microaggressions
Grow in racial literacy

The microaggressions in the workshops can be informed by staff, students, and/or those that ACEN facilitators commonly come across, both inside & outside of the school environment.

We strongly recommend that all workshops include the presentation ‘Understanding recent UK-based racial equality movements’ to contextualise thinking which aids workshop participation. Timings will be adjusted if procured together and suggested timings will then be 45 minutes for the presentation and 60-75 minutes for the workshop.

From Bystander to Upstander Intervention

Year Groups: 7-13
Timing: 60 – 90 minutes (or as below)

This session consisting of a short presentation and a case study-based interactive workshop will allow students to work through multiple forms of discrimination examples and the concepts of allyship and upstander intervention.

The scenario-based examples can be informed by staff, students, and/or those that ACEN facilitators commonly come across, both inside & outside of the school environment.

We strongly recommend that all workshops include the presentation ‘Understanding recent UK-based racial equality movements’ to contextualise thinking which aids workshop participation.

In addition, we recommend that this training occurs after or alongside a microaggression workshop so that students have gained the confidence to recognise and challenge the more subtle forms of discrimination that largely constitute the issues reported in education settings.

Timings will be adjusted if all three are procured together and suggested timings will then be 45 minutes for the presentation and 75-120 minutes for the workshop.

STUDENT WORKSHOP TESTIMONIALS

In January 2025, ACEN played a vital role in Haberdashers’ Boys’ School’s whole-school EDI Day by facilitating impactful Year 11 workshops on being an active bystander. Aisha, Enya, and Serena delivered engaging, thought-provoking sessions that equipped students with practical tools to challenge discrimination and bias in their everyday lives. The response from students was positive; they found the discussions both eye-opening and empowering, with many expressing a renewed sense of confidence in speaking up against discrimination. Staff also appreciated the clarity and relevance of the content, with several commenting on how effectively the team balanced real-world scenarios with interactive learning. Since the training, we have seen students actively referring to the strategies introduced, and staff have found the framework invaluable in reinforcing key EDI principles within pastoral care and classroom discussions. The workshops have had a lasting impact, strengthening our school’s culture of inclusivity and allyship. A standout moment was the depth of engagement from students during discussions, particularly when they shared personal experiences and reflected on times they had witnessed or been affected by bystander behaviour. Their willingness to explore the complexities of intervention and accountability showed just how much the session resonated with them. ACEN’s expertise and engaging approach made the day a huge success, and Haberdashers’ Boys’ School would highly recommend their training to any school seeking to foster a proactive and inclusive community.

ACEN delivered powerful messages to our students. The discussions they facilitated were relevant and resonated with our boys. The facilitators were down to earth and helped our students relax so that they could discuss challenging material openly. ACEN are not your usual school speakers; they offer depth and insight on the topic of racism that I have not experienced until now.

Aisha delivered a clear and well considered presentation. A wide range of resources were used effectively and this meant the students were engaged and the student participation activities were very effective. All of the classroom presenters were patient and engaged the students effectively and did not shy away from any questions. This created thoughtful discussion that carried on after the session into lunch. The session enabled students to develop their understanding, but also encouraged them to reflect on how they may behave in a range of situations. This gave them a lot to think about and discuss.

Justice our workshop facilitator was exceptional. Her confidence and ease delivering the session meant that there was no judgement or tension in the room. The group was diverse students and staff, BAME and white, multi gender. Justice was great at including everyone in the conversation but also empowering the international students in the room to share.

Thank you for the training and workshops. The children and staff really valued them and you gave them all a safe space to talk, discuss and think. It has made the childrenmore thoughtful about racial inclusion and this is part of our school development plan as we are aware one training and one session for the children is not enough. We would really like to continue to work with you. I would be happy to even look at working with younger children. Both you and Aisha were approachable, thoughtful, honest and kind which really makes the difference when conversations can feel tricky. I would like to say a big thank you to that. I feel that everyone wished we could have had longer.

ACEN provided great delivery and engagement last time and were requested hugely by both staff and pupils! The sessions have helped further influence our focus on empathy being key in tackling all areas of EDI. Fundamentally it comes down to people having respect for others and understanding and positivity towards difference. The delivery opened the eyes of students and helped them to view the world through a different lens – you’ll see the number of children that said how interesting it was in the attached feedback.

The workshop was delivered in an engaging way that made children feel comfortable asking questions and sharing their thoughts. It effectively complemented themes such as identity, fairness, and empathy, using relatable scenarios to help children understand how racism can show up in everyday life and how to respond.

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL LIST OF SCHOOL TRAINING & CONSULTANCY TESTIMONIALS

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