Equality and Diversity

We are committed to creating a positive learning and working environment that is free from discrimination, harassment or victimisation and place equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of everything we do:

All college policies and procedures go through the Equality Impact Assessment procedure
Annual staff and student surveys include Equality and Diversity questions and analysis
The college’s Equality and Diversity Committee monitors our commitment with a diverse cross-college membership comprising senior management, teaching and support staff, students and representatives from the Governors and Corporation
We embed equality and diversity in the curriculum and tutorials
Staff undertake regular CPD to improve their understanding and practise of issues related to Equality & Diversity
The college supports the embedding of Equality and Diversity through its E&D Lead Governor, who sits on the Group’s E&D Committee and reports back both to the Quality Committee and the Board itself

In addition to fulfilling its legal obligations, the Group actively promotes awareness of an inclusive society through its students’ work in a variety of initiatives, learning materials and events that include Black History Month, British Values, Anti-bullying Week, International Women's Day, Holocaust Memorial Day and Mental Health Awareness Week. We've also had a variety of speakers and workshops from such organisations as Stonewall, Gender Matters, Refugee Action, and The Ark, as well as the local Muslim community.

We also work with the local community, through FREsh, a registered society promoting equality, diversity and the elimination of unfair treatment and discrimination within and beyond Shropshire. Other involvements within the community include the Shrewsbury LGBT History Festival in February.

British Values

The college is dedicated to promoting values that help develop a strong sense of community and social and moral responsibility. Here students from the college tell us what democracy means to them as students at SC, how they exercise Individual liberty at college, adhere to the rule of law and are tolerant of those of different faiths and beliefs.

Black History Month
At Shrewsbury College, we would like to raise awareness of and celebrate Black History Month with a range of activities this month. One of our activities is interviewing staff and students to learn more about their culture, traditions and ancestry.
Praise Makula (A Levels)
What Black History means to me: As a Black girl, Black History Month means honouring the strength, beauty, and global impact of my heritage.
How I think the college should celebrate and raise awareness of Black History: By organising cultural days in college, it seems like a fun idea because if there was a day in college that we could all dress up in our ethnic attire to represent our culture and our countries, I think that would be amazing.

Colette Rugman
What Black History means to me: An embedded approach all year - not just in the month it is highlighted.
How I think the college should celebrate and raise awareness of Black History: By looking at content and ensuring there is diversity, even if the specification does not provide this, it can be done with displays, extension work. Inviting speakers in to discuss issues in the subject or to provide role models within the subject for minority students.
Do you have anything else you would like to say? I think it is about making the curriculum relevant to all groups, with content, but also with role models who can inspire them in subjects where they may be underrepresented.

Ellie Chanda (A Levels)
What Black History means to me: Black history to me means recognising and celebrating Black culture, Black accomplishments, and most importantly Black Excellence. As the only Black person in most of my classes, it means a great deal to me to succeed, as I feel I carry the responsibility of how Black people are represented in white spaces of academia. Black history month is very important to me as it allows me to see the many strong figures that have come before me and reminds me that I belong in white dominated spaces too.
How I think the college should celebrate and raise awareness of Black History: I believe the posters around campus, the books in the LRC, and the video displayed in tutorials this year were very well done. Perhaps get an easy-to-play African board game in the library or canteen. Or perhaps something small in the canteen, like plantain chips.

Chris Marenya (Engineering)
What Black History means to me: Black lives are being celebrated.
How I think the college should celebrate and raise awareness of Black History: Educate people with more posters around the college for awareness.

Zane Maisiri
What Black History means to me: I actually never knew about it, so to me it's just another day to be proud of my country and where l have come from - the good and bad.
How I think the college should celebrate and raise awareness of Black History: Get information about students' heritage, and give some time for silence as the anthems of black countries are played.

Hannah Edwards
What Black History means to me: A chance to highlight achievements, often overlooked through history, in a wide range of areas, including music, sport, literature, science, and history, whilst also celebrating how migration waves have shaped British society.
How I think the college should celebrate and raise awareness of Black History: Promoting the stories of Black British heroes, icons and role models in all fields that speak more to our young people than well-known faces involved in the American Civil Rights movement.

Tanisha Moore (Creative Media)
What Black History means to me: Communities coming together to celebrate culture and learning about my ancestry.
How I think the college should celebrate and raise awareness of Black History: Educate people who know nothing about different cultures, and have people of colour come in to tell their stories.

Valerie Mosupye (Preparation Routes Teacher)
What Black History means to me: Black History to me is an opportunity to reflect on history, promote learning and encourage progress towards a future built on equality, justice and pride for all. It is a meaningful time to honour Black identity and culture as an important part of our shared history.
How I think the college should celebrate and raise awareness of Black History: The college could also include black history throughout the curriculum, and invite black guest speakers, local authors, historians and community leaders. We could have African and Caribbean food festivals, music performances, and art exhibitions.

Sophia Roberts (A Levels)
What Black History means to me: Recognising and celebrating the differences in culture.
How I think the college should celebrate and raise awareness of Black History: Show both positive and negative aspects of history, such as integration and segregation, but also the history personal to the counties themselves. Trying different foods from around the world and displaying decorations such as flags.
Do you have anything else you would like to say? Personally, I have never seen Malawi represented before. It's a country often forgotten about, perhaps due to the minimal number of immigrated Malawians, as it's one of the poorest countries in the world.
Reggae
Reggae is a musical genre developed by Jamaicans of African ancestry in the late 1960s. Reggae bands incorporate musical elements from many genres, including Jamaican folk, ska, rocksteady, calypso, American soul music, and rhythm and blues.

Amapiano
Amapiano is a South African music genre that originated in the 2010s and combines house, jazz, and kwaito music. The name 'amapiano' comes from the Zulu word for 'pianos' and the genre is thought to have originated in the townships of South Africa.

Boerewors & Pap
Boerewors translated directly from Afrikaans means farmer's sausage. It is traditionally served inside a bread roll or with pap which is a traditional porridge made from mielie-meal (ground maize).
Transgender Awareness Week

Every year between 13-19 November, people and organisations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise the visibility of transgender and gender non-conforming people and address the issues that the community faces. This one-week celebration leads up to the Transgender Day of Remembrance, which memorialises victims of transphobic violence and occurs annually on 20 November.
We can all show our support as trans allies by taking a stand against oppression, bullying and harassment. By just taking the time to listen and learn, you’re already helping, and we hope that the resources on this page are a good start.
Personalised messages for Transgender Awareness Week

A personal message from LGBTQ+ advocate Desmond Napoles

A message from The Times bestselling author and campaigner Shon Faye.
Pride

At college, Pride Month represents an opportunity for us all to reflect on who we are as a diverse college community and to support LGBTQIA+ colleagues and students, enhancing their voices and understanding the difficulties they face, while celebrating the valuable contributions they make to life at the college.
Throughout the month of June, we have a range of activities that in the past have included fascinating and inspiring talks from human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, asexual rights activist Yasmin Benoit, and an expert in Shropshire’s lesbian and gay history.