Prefects, Grace G and Carrie B delivered their ‘Thought for the Week’ on ‘Inclusivity’  

With this term drawing to a close, Grace and I thought that we would focus our prefect talk on inclusivity. As Ayoola, Sophie and Lily have all previously highlighted, celebrating diversity is important, and it can be done through writing and media. However, ensuring that people feel included in a different culture is equally just as important. Even more so when we live in a society where travelling allows us to experience cultures from around the world. However, RHS also gives us the opportunity to access a variety of cultures, and in order for everyone in the school community to feel included, we can embrace these differences. 

Here at RHS we are lucky enough to have a plethora of cultures that as a community we can explore, varying from America to China. Making sure that people from a variety of different backgrounds feel included in our society is extremely important and is not that hard to do. For example, you can use the themed lunches and dinners to start a conversation with your friends about what their national dishes are and their traditions during certain times of the year. We urge you to make full use of the diversity of the school, as it may be the only time in your life where there’s such a wide variety of cultures that can be embraced and explored. 

If you had told me five years ago that I would have chosen to study Mandarin as part of my university course, I would have probably not believed you but here I am. RHS has given me access to a wide variety of cultures and thus different philosophical approaches to life that over my time here I became slowly intrigued by. Now, don’t get us wrong, we do not expect all of you to study another language as that may not interest you. But, you may still be wondering how you can become aware and learn about other societies, in order to allow you to become more included in the RHS bubble. So, here are some ideas: 

This week we urge you to take the time and make use of our diverse school community, to learn about other cultures from your friends and the aspects of their society that are particularly important to them. Whether that be through asking about their family traditions or what aspects of their food are different to those in Britain, just talking to someone can make them feel more included in a society that can be overwhelming when coming from one so different. You never know, you might just find something that particularly interests you and makes you want to learn more either about a place or person. 

Through different types of media, you can deepen your understanding of the world and experience its diversity. Whether that be from watching foreign films to find out about what everyday society is like or reading books about a country's history. All allows you to celebrate diversity and understand cultures, not only adding to your understanding of the world, but making those from different backgrounds feel more included in a world that can be so isolating. 

However, it is also equally important to stand up against people that are acting in a discriminatory manner towards others to ensure that here and around the world people are accepting of different cultures and backgrounds to create a more equitable society. Thus, this week we urge you to find out something new about a culture.