I remember coming home from school one day, my mum furious about how grubby my once-brilliant white shirt had become. I didn’t see the issue. 

After a full day of running around and attending classes, my shirt was bound to get dirty. 

But that shirt—and the assumptions behind school uniform policies—represents how inequity is often woven into the foundations of our schools, impacting students in ways we may not immediately recognise.

Inequitable School Environments

School straplines like “Where excellence is expected” or “Don’t just learn, excel” are common, but how often do they truly reflect what’s happening in your school? 

These words may aim to inspire, but what are they hiding? 

As James Baldwin, writer and civil rights activist, said: “Imprecise words are attempts made by us all to get to something real.” (Baldwin, 1963)

And the reality? Inequity thrives in our schools—and it has for decades.

• 70% of young Black people feel school prevents them from being their authentic selves (YMCA, 2020)
• Students entitled to free school meals are six times more likely to be excluded (DfE, 2019)
• 37% of girls at mixed-sex schools have experienced sexual harassment (NEU, 2019)

These numbers paint a clear picture: schools are often spaces where inequities, not students, thrive. 

Take Black boys, for example—over the past 20 years, they are  three times more likely to be excluded than their peers (Gillborn, 2018). Instead of nurturing environments for learning and growth, many schools are places where systemic barriers remain unchecked.

Challenging the Status Quo: Equity vs. Excellence

If your school’s strapline champions “excellence,” ask yourself: is that excellence built on equity? 

Excellence without equity is just another form of gatekeeping, designed to reward those already set up for success. 

You can’t create a truly equitable school environment if you’re only focused on performance. Excellence should be the byproduct of putting equity at the heart of education —not the driving force.

The Building Blocks of Equity

Building an equitable school environment isn’t about adding shiny new initiatives or reframing your language. These “bolt-on” measures uphold inequities rather than dismantle them.

Imagine your school as a Lego structure, where each brick represents a policy or practice. If inequity is built into the foundation, no amount of surface-level changes can create a truly inclusive environment.

Take uniform policies, for example:

Why require white shirts that increase parents’ burdens or enforce see-through clothing that invites judgement and harassment? These rules, often arbitrary, distract from meaningful learning and engagement in the classroom.

Let’s also rethink uniforms. 

Why is this debate always framed as a binary— “traditional” uniforms or none at all? What might an equitable uniform actually look like? Shouldn’t school clothing be practical, durable, and easy to clean—designed to meet students’ needs rather than being dictated by outdated or unnecessary rules that also burden time-poor teachers with enforcement?

A Threat to Inequity: Where Do You Stand?

If we’re truly committed to extending equity throughout our schools, we need a framework that actively threatens inequity—one that helps schools critically evaluate their policies, practices, and values. The Advancing Equity Framework does just this, urging schools to centre equity in every decision they make. Because, if you’re not dismantling inequity, you’re helping to sustain it.

Here’s the challenge: how is your school’s strapline embodied in its policies?

•  Is respect truly applied to everyone, or do they serve as tools to excuse inequitable treatment? 

If your school’s strapline is a statement of values, those values should apply to everyone—including the adults. Your strapline, or values should be more than a collection of imprecise words. It needs to be put into practice in a way that creates an environment where all young people can thrive—clear, actionable, and reflected in every policy.

So, are you truly committed to building an equitable school environment, or are you still  striving for excellence at the expense of the young people you serve?

Equity isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the foundation for meaningful change in education. Want to make your school environment truly equitable? Join the Class 13 mailing list to stay updated on transformative frameworks and strategies that can help you build a space where all young people can thrive.