Broadcaster criticises academy trust for fact that memorial statue to Stephen Lawrence is no longer standing at primary school

Image: iStock/Getty Images

Image: iStock/Getty Images

 

A prominent regional broadcaster has criticised an academy trust over the removal of a statue which had stood at one of its primary schools as a memorial to the murdered black teenager, Stephen Lawrence.

Sherrie Eugene Hart wrote to Alun Williams, chief executive of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, by implication accusing it of “racism” following this website’s story of the statue’s removal in 2016 from Trinity Church School, in Radstock, near Bath.

Williams responded that the statue, which was unveiled at the school by Stephen’s mother Doreen in 2013, had been damaged in building work and that tackling prejudice “is still very much at the forefront” of the school’s work.

 As Education Uncovered revealed earlier this month, the memorial to Stephen had featured a dark-skinned person and a light-skinned person with their arms around each other, and the poet Maya Angelou’s words “And still I rise”.

It had been put up as the school emphasised work on anti-racism under its then-head, Pepe Hart, who had won a string of awards.

The school had also featured a “stilling room,” also in memory of Stephen which itself was opened by Baroness Doreen Lawrence in 2015; a mosaic with a brown skinned child and a light skinned child; and colourful sayings painted on the surface of its playground.

However, Pepe Hart and six colleagues resigned in December 2015, the school joining Midsomer Norton the following June. The colourful sayings were painted over, the mosaic was replaced, and this website understands the stilling room is no longer there, either.

Midsomer Norton has stated that the statue had to come down after it was “damaged beyond repair” by building contractors in 2016.

Sherrie Eugene Hart, who is not related to Pepe Hart, is a well-known figure in the West Country, having anchored the regional HTV news on television.

In a letter to Williams, Eugene Hart, wrote: “My reason for writing is to share my concern, dismay and utter disappointment at the decision to remove the Stephen Lawrence statue from the [grounds of] Trinity.”

She wrote that she had always been impressed by the work at Trinity, and that Pepe Hart had been “one of the most inspirational teachers I had ever come across”. She had been invited to the statue’s opening, though on the day had been unable to make it.

She added: “Stephen Lawrence was an innocent young man who aspired to be an architect…his only mistake was to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, wating for a bus in Eltham, London, with his friend to get home.

“They were approached by five angry white youths who were shouting cruel and offensive words at them…He was murdered in cold blood…

“I wanted to point out these facts because as a black woman myself I feel let down by Trinity, the school I had always looked up to, and saw as a beacon for others. The Stephen Lawrence statue was a symbol of hope, respect and understanding. A modern take on remembrance and emblem for unity.

“Is this not a value you want to give children at Trinity? Is this not important? I wonder what message this action sends out to them, their parents and the wider public.

“For me it tells me that my life is not valuable and is not worthy. How sad coming from a professional woman who happens to be black. It is also sad that while the police were proven [following the Macpherson inquiry into Stephen’s death] to be racist, more and more we unveil racism in our education system, too.

“Taking down the Stephen Lawrence statue at Trinity has proved that for me.”

I asked Williams for a response, last Friday at what is admittedly a very busy time for all school leaders given the coronavirus crisis, but have yet to receive one. (UPDATE: I have now received a response. See below).  

Eugene Hart did get a response to her email, however. Williams told her: “I have explained to a reporter [me] that the statue was not removed for any reason other than it was damaged. The good work undertaken by leaders in tackling prejudice is still very much at the forefront of our work at Trinity Church School and there are symbols of this at the school including pieces of artwork.

“I can reassure you that our core values are very much focussed on hope, respect, understanding, tolerance and so on.

“I trust that this reassures you that we did not simply throw away the statue or take it down and that we take the issues you describe seriously and are determined to drive out prejudice and unconscious bias wherever it is uncovered.”

Education Uncovered understands, via a parent, however, that parents were not told about the loss of the statue at the time and the reasons for this.

POSTSCRIPT: More detailed response from Midsomer Norton

 

Alun Williams, chief executive of the Midsomer Norton Schools Partnership, has got back with a further response to my detailed questions about what happened.

He said: “The suggestion that the trust is ‘racist’ is ridiculous. We run a rich variety of primary and secondary schools and are proud of the multicultural demographic of our staff and pupils.

“I have nothing further to add to this point, except to point you in the direction of the many Ofsted and [church] SIAMs reports across the trust including a ‘good’ judgement at Beechen Cliff School* for the boarding provision just prior to lock-down. This inspection was undertaken by social care and thus the threshold for safeguarding etc is higher than school inspections.

“In addition, all schools in the trust follow the national curriculum, have modules of work on prejudice and challenge prejudice and unconscious bias if and wherever it is found.”

I had asked the trust to confirm that there had been no intention to remove the statue; this had happened only after it was damaged. I also asked if there had been any attempt to seek compensation for the damage.

Williams responded: “I have explained that the statue was damaged beyond repair back in 2016; that was indeed an accident. The trust had no intention of removing the statue when various decorating and building works were being carried out. The statue would, if it had remained undamaged, still be there.

“The building and decoration work in 2016 was varied, including replacement of some wooden cladding which had degraded, decorating internally, repairs to doors and windows, playground work, etc.

“The damage to the statue was not noticed immediately and it was difficult to identify who had caused the damage, or indeed how it had been caused. As a consequence, the trust took the decision not to pursue compensation.

“Unfortunately, notwithstanding the removal of the statue, you will be well aware that school funding is very restricted [though Williams' own salary in 2018-19 was £149,950, just below the government's £150k benchmark] and we did not consider that to expend further sums on a statue (no matter how well meaning and powerful in its message) was tenable. As the Ofsted monitoring visits and full inspection show [in 2018], the school was always at the forefront of challenging prejudice and unconscious bias – thus it is our actions that demonstrate our determination to challenge prejudice.

“I should perhaps explain the context within which we were working. Following considerable disruption at the school in 2015 [when Pepe Hart and colleagues left], a considerable number of children left the school and moved to other local primaries. This placed a great deal of pressure [on] in-year budgets, leaving a significant in-year deficit.”

I had also asked if the trust had told parents what had happened to the statue.

Williams responded: “I do not recall if the trust expressly informed the parents, but I believe I was asked about it by one parent at [one of the] open meeting[s] that were held regularly at the school. These meetings were used to reassure parents that the school was on-track to recover from the difficult situation it was in in late 2015 and early 2016.”

On other changes at the school since Pepe Hart and colleagues left, Williams said:

“The quiet room still exists and is used for a number of activities including the restorative justice work, reflection time, small-group work, etc.

“The mosaic was replaced as we altered the name of the school. However, parts of the mosaic still remain, including the dove symbol used in the past to signify peace. This section was used to create a ‘peace table’ for children to use…

“The playground was repaired in order to be a safe space for children; during the course of the repair it is correct that old markings were tarmacked over. Although these markings had not been in place long, they were beginning to deteriorate and could be slippery in the wet or when algae formed on the paint surfaces. Naturally, we seek to keep pupils, parents/carers and staff as safe as possible at all times on site.”

 

 

*Beechen Cliff itself faced national controversy in 2018, before it was part of the Midsomer Norton trust, after a group of white pupils allegedly chained a black student to a lamppost in a “mock slave auction”. The school in Bath reportedly faced closure following an “inadequate” Ofsted inspection later that year, but was then transferred to Midsomer Norton.