Student protest in Cheam after racist Snapchat incident

Dozens of secondary school students wearing masks to prevent the spread of coronavirus protested racism and white privilege in a demonstration seemingly directed against school authorities on Thursday.

They gathered together on school grounds, holding placards with a number of anti-racist slogans such as 'Tolerating racism is racism' and bearing the raise fist associated with social protest and the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement.

The Sutton Guardian learnt that the protest occurred after a student at the school "expressed racist views" during an exchange with another student on the Snapchat social media platform, something the school later confirmed.

The incident and the fallout from it prompted an angry response from students after the details were shared across social media platforms in the following days.

Placards held by students at Thursday's anti-racism protest

Responding to a request from the Sutton Guardian, a statement released by Nonsuch High School for Girls bearing the name of Headteacher Ms A Cavilla addressed the incident and the school's response directly.

In it, the school said they did not tolerate racism and confirmed that the student involved "has been disciplined":

"Last May, during lock-down, a Nonsuch student expressed racist views in a Snapchat argument with another student. The conversation was shared on social media.

"The incident was made known to the school last week and, following an investigation, the student involved has been disciplined," it read.

"We are aware of the anger and hurt that has been caused by this incident.

"We do not tolerate racism at Nonsuch and are working internally with staff and students in our Race Advocacy Group and with external authorities including the police and Local Authority to address student concerns," the statement continued.