News / Education
Montpelier High School pupils reflect on school’s new name
Part of a new mural at the new Montpelier High School features a pupil taking the knee next to the empty plinth where Edward Colston’s statue used to stand.
A smaller version of the statue used to stand at the school when it was called Colston’s Girls’ School.
The process of renaming the historic institution on Cheltenham Road was very much led by its pupils, with Black Lives Matter protesters also featuring in the mural.
is needed now More than ever
Artist Danny Jenkins created the mural – photo: Venturers Trust
On a recent morning, Montpelier High School pupils Hanna Khalil, 17; Sophia Bailey, 16; and Oliver Bouchier, 17, joined principal Kerry McCullough to talk about the shift in attitudes that led to the name change.
Students played a pivotal role in the name change, developing and delivering a consultation last year.
“We came together as a real collective,” Sophia said.
McCullough added: “At the beginning of this process, as the principal of this school I had an idea of what it might look like.
“But the students I worked with had different ideas and better ideas, and they designed a process that was very unique to what we needed as a school to have the conversation.”
Listen to the full interview with Hanna, Sophia, Oliver and Kerry on the Bristol24/7 Behind the Headlines podcast:
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read more: 18 things you probably didn’t know about Montpelier
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