Stamford Endowed Schools and Oakham School respond to accounts of racism and discrimination

Schools have vowed to ‘try even harder’ to prevent racism after former pupils spoke out about their experiences of discrimination.

Sean Dendere, 19, said he was subjected to racism during his time as a pupil at Stamford School.

He said: “I experienced racial microaggressions such as being confused with another black boy on a daily basis, and yet we were two individuals who were very dynamic and unique in looks and personalities.

“This may, from the outside looking in, seem minor but for teachers to not even want to learn the names of their black students is dangerous - and imagine the consequences of this if one of us was a suspect in a case.

“Another incident took place at the end of the school year in 2019, when I felt that I was automatically targeted as a potential perpetrator due to the colour of skin.”

Sean said he had experienced racist remarks from teachers as well as fellow pupils, and didn’t feel supported by the pastoral team at Stamford Endowed Schools.

“As a black student I did not at all believe they had my best interest at heart, hence making me unable to confide in them because I was made to feel that my emotions were invalid because they don’t want to be critical of their other staff members or students upholding institutional racism.”

Sean added: “Such incidences in black people’s lives are not a coincidence but are part of wider societal and racial injustices - and beyond the four walls of the school.

“I experience this in greater intensity from institutions such as the police, security workers, and bouncers.”

Another woman used the social media platform Twitter to share her experiences.

She revealed images showing racist behaviour from former pupils of Catmose College, as well as Oakham School and Stamford Endowed Schools.

Her posts have been shared on social media more than a thousand times.

Responding to the posts, a spokesman for the Stamford Endowed Schools said: “We take extremely seriously any allegations of racism, and we have looked into this in some detail.

“Racism is sadly endemic in our society as a whole, and any suggestion of racist behaviour in our schools is always acted on immediately.

“We are shocked and saddened to hear about these experiences, and if there is anything that we can do to help and support any Old Stamfordians who have been subject to this, we would strongly encourage them to contact us.”

Henry Price, headteacher of Oakham School, also expressed regret that any racism has taken place.

He said: “As a school that prides itself on its tolerance and international diversity, we have read what has been posted with shock and sadness.

“We are, of course, extremely sorry that anyone may have been hurt by the intolerant actions or words of a member of our community – wherever and whenever it occurred.”

He added: “Sadly, racism is a systemic societal problem; we recognise this and, as a school, work incredibly hard to play our role in breaking down this systemic problem.

“We proactively encourage, develop and ingrain tolerance across our school community – which includes children from nearly 40 different nationalities.

“Our pastoral programmes, as well as our PSHE lessons, focus on inclusion, diversity and racism.

“We also have very clear measures and procedures in place for promptly dealing with behaviour that is intolerant – be it regarding colour, race, sex, or gender.

“However, we can only tackle the issues of intolerant behaviour when we are made aware of them.

“Much work has, and continues, to take place to encourage our current pupils to tell staff when they experience or encounter intolerance.”

Staff at Stamford Endowed Schools and Oakham School said they are planning to revisit their current practices and ‘try even harder’ to tackle these societal issues.

They added that an incident described in the Twitter thread in which a headteacher dismissed an individual’s concerns about the use of a racist word did not take place at either of their schools.

The Mercury has contacted Catmose College, and the former pupil who was subjected to racism, for a comment.

• To report a suspected hate crime committed online or elsewhere, call police on 101.