More than 800 people have signed a petition backing an open letter sent to Nottingham schools calling for more teaching on Polish culture Eastern European migrants.
Around 100 letters were sent to schools in Nottingham last week, with the signatories asking for schools to include ‘relevant aspects of Polish culture in their teaching.’
It comes after the city’s Polish community experienced a rise in hate crime, which has been linked to the EU Referendum result.
The petition has been organised by The Signpost to Polish Success (SPS), a Nottingham based-charity helping poles integrate into UK culture and find work.
We aim to contribute to community cohesion for everyone’s benefit
Manager of the charity, Beata Polanowska said: “This letter not only aims to affect the life of our children, but also to contribute to community cohesion for the benefit of everyone.
“We want to thank all the people who signed our letter and all the organisations who helped us to gather signatures, we are still collecting signatures.”
The charity says that there has been a 31 per cent rise in hate crime incidents directed at Polish nationals since the EU referendum.
Why SPS say they sent out the open letters
- To ask the schools whether they can reflect the diversity of their pupil population – Polish pupils are present in most city schools. Therefore we would like the teaching in these schools to take into account the presence of this ethnic minority when planning their teaching.
- To assist in shaping the Polish children’s sense of identity – most of the Polish children attending British schools – when they reach adulthood – will be British. Their English language skills will be of a higher level than their Polish. The UK will be, and is, their home. However, we want them to have a sense of their roots to enable them to develop into well rounded and confident adults.
- To inform British pupils about Eastern European migrants. British pupils will learn something positive about the culture of their school mates, take it home with them, share this knowledge with their parents and apply it when they become adults.
- To introduce a positive discourse about Eastern European migrants. Negative comments regarding the presence in the UK of Eastern European migrants have regularly featured in public discourse of late; in the run up to the Brexit referendum and in the previous parliamentary and local elections. We would like to promote a more positive discussion relating to the Eastern European/Polish migrants’ presence in the UK.
- To react against racism. There has been a 31 per cent increase of hate crime incidents directed at Polish nationals since the referendum (figures collated by the Polish Embassy). Eastern European migrants have been made to feel unwelcome, insecure and second class citizens in the UK.
