Christ’s Hospital to teach ‘white privilege’

PUPILS at one of Britain’s oldest schools are to be taught about “white privilege” as they say that no progress can be made from “within a comfort zone”.

Students as well as teachers at Christ’s Hospital, a £36,600-a-year boarding school in Horsham, west Sussex, will all be given “diversity training” as well as lessons on “micro-aggressions and stereotyping”.

The school, founded in 1552, counts the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge and the slave trader Edward Colston among its alumni.

The plans were among a series of changes announced in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests last year.

Christopher Steane, the school’s treasurer and chairman of the council, said: “We understand that the lived reality of being at Christ’s Hospital can have a significant impact and it is vital that the experiences and concerns of our black and ethnic minority pupils are heard, validated and acted upon.

“If this is not happening or, worse, if problems have been dismissed, then that must change.”

Mr Steane said that heads of departments at the school have been told “to ensure that black British history influences curricular development”.

This will initially focus on addressing the challenges that are still faced today as well as historical racism, and “explicitly teaching which

‘We will explicitly teach which words and phrases are racist and why’

words and phrases are racist and why and also examining and understanding terms like ‘systemic racism’ and ‘white privilege’”.

It is the latest public school to start teaching pupils about “white privilege”.

Last month, it emerged that the London school St Dunstan’s, where fees are £18,000 a year, has also started teaching pupils about the concept, with discussion of topics such as how the Duchess of Sussex may have faced more adversity than the Duchess of Cambridge when joining the Royal family.

Other private schools, such as Alleyn’s, also in London, are introducing equality charters, mixed-gender football teams and banning terms such as “man up” in an effort to ensure equality.

Last month Nadhim Zahawi, the Education Secretary, said that schools should not teach “white privilege” as a fact. “Contested theories” and opinions should also not be presented to children without an appropriate balance, according to a paper presented to Parliament by Mr Zahawi.

A spokesman for Christ’s Hospital said the changes were “part of our ongoing efforts to ensure that we offer a supportive environment”.