St Swithun’s School – Staff INSET (01/09/2023)

Facilitator: Shola

Staff were immediately at ease and made to feel comfortable enough to ask difficult questions. This is a testament to both of you, Shola and Leah, as your delivery and content were both informative, correctly paced and pitched. I am really pleased that staff have better knowledge around racial literacy and I have already noticed the increase in race-related conversations in the staff room. I am sure this will filter through to students soon too.

Bishop’s Stortford College – Staff INSET

Facilitator: Shola

Having attended the ACEN conference in 2021 at Dulwich College, I was very impressed with the information, approach and engagement of the whole ACEN team and their guest speakers. This led to inviting ACEN to Bishop’s Stortford College to speak to all staff about Unconscious Bias and to carry out workshops with teaching staff. The presentation and workshops had a significant impact. There was a genuine buzz amongst staff after the sessions that continued into the following terms. ACEN helped us grow more confident with our understanding of Diversity and Inclusion, and supported us in cascading this message to pupils, parents, and our wider community.

St Dunstan’s College – Staff Training

Facilitator: Shola

St Dunstan’s College has benefitted hugely from ACEN to further our anti-racist educational environment. Shola and her team delivered excellent training for all staff, adapted to the audience. They collaborated with student leads and helped shape ambitious strategy for equality and diversity within our College. We recommend ACEN highly — their training programme and ongoing dialogue have been instrumental in our continued commitment to ensure St Dunstan’s is a place where all learners and teachers feel supported to be their authentic selves.

Ibstock Place School – Staff INSET

Facilitator: Shola

Malcolm is a charismatic speaker who draws his audience in with a combination of real data, personal anecdotes, statistics, humour and intellectual verve. Everyone was engaged — both in his talk and in the practical workshops, which got us thinking, talking, and reflecting on our teaching practice. Malcolm was very non-judgemental, and everyone came away with greater awareness of what it means to be anti-racist. The term “decolonising the curriculum” was brilliantly explained. Since the training, pupils are more ready to call out racist language or microaggressions, and our pupils of colour feel more confident in talking about their experiences. Our ACAAS (African, Caribbean, Asian and Allies Society), inspired by the first ACEN conference, has also been a great success.

Dulwich College – Unconscious Bias Training

Facilitator: Aisha

We’re delighted to be working with ACEN. As the best of critical friends, they are helping us all in the Dulwich College community — pupils, staff and parents — to grow in confidence in talking about race and promoting racial equity. I’d describe them as offering a listening service: they don’t pontificate; they look to understand where you are and what you are already doing in regard to diversity and inclusion, and then they help you move forward from there, step by step, in a way that feels meaningful and sustainable.