A Beginner's Guide to.....

Anti-Racism

We first worked with Liz Pemberton in the summer of 2020. Since then, she has inspired us, as well as the rest of the Early Years sector and beyond, to challenge our thoughts, actions and policies on a daily basis.

Before the national lockdown, Liz was the manager of a 46-place private day nursery, which was part of a small family-owned chain of 3 Early Years settings based in Birmingham. With children on roll who were predominantly of Black African-Caribbean heritage, and rooted in a community that she was part of, Liz ensured that it was more than a place to drop children off – the nursery evolved into a community-based hub providing authentic and culturally compatible support for hundreds of children and families.

Through her ever-growing consultancy work as The Black Nursery Manager, Liz has worked in collaboration with nursery settings, local authorities, professional early years organisations and various working groups to develop policy and guidance in order to drive the focus towards the development of anti-racist pedagogy within the sector.

After appearing as a guest on the FSF and Tapestry podcast to discuss how we should talk to our children about racism, Liz went on to host a Tapestry Education Conference on the subject of ‘Reflecting on Anti-racism in the Early Years’ in March 2021. During the conference, we heard from Shaddai Tembo and Faith Chow, who both provoked deep thinking on how we need to improve as a sector.

We were delighted when Liz agreed to write this free ‘Beginner’s Guide to Anti-Racism’. The aim was to produce a straightforward, consumable document that could start necessary conversations about racism across the education sector. Whether you print a copy out to share in the staff room, or read and share it on your mobile phone, we urge you to consider the content of this guide.