Eton is a wholeheartedly welcoming place with a genuine sense of belonging for our community: all boys, all staff, and all families; without exception, without exclusion. Establishing a culture of acceptance, diversity and inclusion is essential to our ethos.
All schools have a duty to prevent a pupil from having their self-worth diminished, or their ability to achieve impeded, by bullying of any kind. We aim to identify and remove barriers to a pupil’s fulfilment. We do not all have to agree, of course. Inclusion Education teaches us how to disagree well, and to coexist kindly, with our different perspectives.
The work of Inclusion Education in the last five years has been brilliant in building bridges.
Boy from B Block (Year 13)
Eton educates pupils to understand the rights of all people to live freely within their identity, without discrimination; to do otherwise would be to fail in our duty to prepare Etonians for life in the wider world.
As part of Black History Month, the Eton community joined together in a joyous massed session of Djembe drumming.
Expert Education
Eton works alongside the acknowledged leaders in the Inclusion Education field. Etonians are encouraged to show empathy, respect and acceptance of others. Bold Voices, Everyone’s Invited, and Laura Bates of the Everyday Sexism project speak regularly to boys and parents. Beyond Equality provide active workshops for all of F Block (Year 9) and E Block (Year 10) to explore their understanding of masculine identity. Staff, House Captains, and Pop (school prefects) have benefitted from training around race from Diverse Matters.
The pupils’ moral development is excellent, including the way they respect and value diversity and demonstrate sensitivity and tolerance to those from different backgrounds and traditions.
ISI inspection, December 2021
Pupil Voice, Societies, Talks and Awareness Celebrations
The Feminism Society, LGBTQ Society, Disability and Accessibility Awareness Society (DAAS), Cicero Society, and African Caribbean, Middle Eastern and Oriental societies are all active inclusion forums. Of course, inclusivity is a theme that is at the forefront of many other societies.
The Faiths Forum brings together boys of different faiths, and with the Faith Tutors co-ordinates important days of religious observance. On Holocaust Memorial Day we have been privileged to hear from Holocaust survivors.
The Inclusion Education Committee oversees the development of Inclusion Education in the School, whilst boys run their own inclusion society to mark Etonian diversity with events such as Lunar New Year. Eton Pride is celebrated in June. The Eton Experience series of talks, which is organised and presented by boys, are open to parents and cover the Black, Asian, Jewish and Muslim experiences of Etonians.
Eton also marks awareness days/weeks/months such as Black History and LGBTQ+ History Months, and International Woman’s Day with symposia at which staff, boys, guest speakers and other schools join to educate and celebrate through assemblies, talks and performances.
