How to Raise an Anti Racist Child

Camille London-Miyo is a Doctoral Researcher with the Stephen
Lawrence Research Centre. She has been an English Subject teacher,
middle leader, and Senior Leader in inner-city secondary schools for over
thirty years.
Camille was awarded an MBE for her Services to Education in 1999 and
the National Professional Qualification of Headship in 2008. She has
been an active trade unionist and was elected the first black president in
the history of Leicester teachers' unions in 2018.
Camille is one of the co-founders of the Black Educators Alliance, a
national group of black educators who seek to challenge the institutional
racism that exists in education, and a co-founder of Leicester Black
Educators Network.
In addition, she is part of The Coalition of Anti-Racist Educators (CARE).
Camille is a community activist who supports community networks to
provide advocacy support to the parents of Black children whilst
challenging the narrative of the "underachievement of Black pupils in UK
schools.
As a co-founder of the Phoenix Agenda Supplementary School, Camille
works within Communities to build social capital and raise the achievement
of disadvantaged groups. Camille's understanding of the complexity and
importance of involving students, parents and communities in order to
achieve genuine and sustained progress in education at all levels has been
the foundation of her work to date, she has also established and works
with Black teacher networks and professional development programmes
across the UK.
Her research interests include black teachers in education - recruitment,
retention, and progression; strategies to decolonise the UK curriculum;
radical pedagogies that challenge empirical ideas about teaching and
learning; developing a global "English "Literature Curriculum as part of a
holistic anti-racist strategy in schools.
Camille has written a chapter entitled: Education, race and the
decolonisation of the curriculum in Beyond the Blockade - Education in
Cuba (2019), she has also written articles for the Independent, the

Guardian, and The Voice Online about decolonising the curriculum and
anti-racist practice in Schools.
Camille is presently working on an East Midlands photographic tribute,
celebrating Black Educators in the East Midlands, as part of the
commemoration of 30 years of Black Educators self-organising in the
Legacy NUT and the NEU.

Melvyn has been Principal of George Watson’s College in Edinburgh since August 2014.

Melvyn graduated in English from the University of York and trained to be a teacher at the University of Durham. He began his career in Northamptonshire, teaching at Oundle School and enjoying a short and not massively successful political career which culminated in being elected Mayor of Oundle in 1993. He also served very briefly as an election observer for the Council of Europe before moving to Monmouth School as Head of English and being promoted as Director of Studies there in 1997. In 2001 he transferred into the state sector as Headmaster of Old Swinford Hospital in Stourbridge, serving for six years and subsequently moving to Norfolk as Principal of Wymondham College.

Melvyn was a member of the National Executive of the Boarding Schools’ Association (2004-2010) and was Chair of the Association in 2008-09. He has undertaken a number of governance roles in schools, academies and the FE sector. He has served as a Director of the Scottish Council for Independent Schools (SCIS) and of Connect - the Scottish Parent Teacher Council. He is currently a member of the Council of School Leaders Scotland. Melvyn is a Burgess of the City of Edinburgh and also an Honorary Life Fellow of the College of Optometrists, a distinction awarded in recognition of his service to the profession as a Lay Member of College Council.

Melvyn will become Chair of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC) for the 2022/23 Session. HMC represents the Heads of 296 leading independent schools in the UK, Ireland and around the world, which between them are responsible for educating over 240,000 young people. The organisation has an important voice in the development of education policy and good practice, provides training, induction and professional development for Heads and the staff of HMC schools and provides a quality “kite mark” for British education internationally. This will be only the third time in over 150 years that this prestigious position will have been held by the Head of a Scottish school, and Melvyn will be following in the footsteps of former GWC Principal, Sir Roger Young, who was Chairman of HMC in 1976.

Melvyn is married to Catherine Stratford and they have two adult children. Melvyn retains a personal interest in politics as well as cultural pursuits and vintage transport. His articles on educational and related themes are published from time to time in the TES Scotland and elsewhere.