children school's and familie

Ed Balls today praised a race equality initiative in Leeds and announced plans to promote the Stephen Lawrence Education Awards to all local authorities across the country.The awards, which are supported by Stephen Lawrence’s mother Doreen, help schools to promote race equality by formally recognising and ‘kitemarking’ good practice in schools. Leeds City Council has developed the scheme as a way to target parts of their local area facing particular community tensions. The Stephen Lawrence Standard was developed in partnership between Education Leeds, Leeds City Council and Black and minority community representatives, in response to the tragic murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993 and the publication of the MacPherson Inquiry Report into Stephen’s death in 1999. Two-thirds of schools in Leeds are already taking part in the initiative and Ed Balls now aims to promote this and similar initiatives to all local authorities across the country.He announced plans to promote the Stephen Lawrence Education Awards and the other best equality initiatives like the Rights Respecting School Awards in Hampshire to all local authorities across the country. This will include the DCSF co-hosting an event with Education Leeds to showcase the awards to other local authorities so they can spread the benefits of awards to help schools work in partnership with their local community and other schools to promote equality in all they do. We will also prepare a tool-kit to help other areas who want to introduce awards in their schools.Attending a ceremony celebrating the achievements of the participating schools in Leeds, Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, said: "Schools have a key role to play in building a fair, integrated and tolerant society for all children growing up in Britain today. I believe a Stephen Lawrence Education Award is a sign of a good school. It means they’re committed to doing all they can to show that racism has no place in their school and that pupils understand different cultures and backgrounds. “Winning a Stephen Lawrence Education Award is a great achievement and I congratulate all of the schools, teachers and pupils who are leading the way in Leeds. I want to do more to spread what Leeds is doing to other areas where it can also make a real difference.”Chris Edwards, Chief Executive of Education Leeds, said:”It is testament to the successes of the Stephen Lawrence award that the Secretary of State is attending the ceremony this year. The award is unique to Leeds but is a fantastic example nationally of what can be done to promote the importance of race equality to all children and young people.“We want all schools to be inclusive, brilliant learning places and this amazing scheme is really helping. It enriches learning, broadens young people’s horizons and embeds a culture of equality in our schools and communities.”

Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to 'England'
1. The Stephen Lawrence Education Standard was developed in partnership between Education Leeds, the Leeds City Council and Black and Minority community representatives, in response to the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the MacPherson Inquiry Report. Launched in 2003, the Standard evolved from a competitive award established in 2000 and was the first of its kind in the country. A ceremony each October celebrates the achievements of the participating schools.

2. To achieve the award, schools and early years centres have to demonstrate knowledge, understanding and evidence of promoting inclusion and race equality to help transform education. The latest awards, presented by Ed Balls today in Leeds, takes the total number of accredited schools and early years centres in the city to more than 200.3. The 12 criteria of the Stephen Lawrence Education Standard are:
• A whole school approach.
• School self-evaluation.
• A written race equality policy.
• Written anti-racist and anti-bullying policies, with clear procedures to deal with racial harassment and bullying.
• An effective approach to monitoring and responding to racist incidents.
• An inclusive policy on the procedures for pupil admissions, assessment and transfer.
• A written policy for involving parents, carers and the community in working with and supporting the school.
• An inclusive curriculum which positively reflects a culturally and religiously diverse society, promotes race equality, and prepares pupils to become responsible citizens.
• An effective monitoring process of black and minority ethnic pupils, particularly to academic attainment and exclusions. Target should be set for improvement for all groups of children.
• The effective monitoring of staff recruitment, staff development and governors appointments, with targets for recruitment from ethnic minority groups.
• Mandatory anti-racist training for all staff and governors.
• Race equality and community cohesion action plans