Welsh nurseries have been told to report “racist incidents” to police under Labour-backed guidance.
The guidance, issued to more than 300 nurseries across Wales, is aimed at turning early years settings into “anti-racist” environments.
Childcare workers are advised to assess whether a “racist incident” could constitute a hate crime before reporting it to police.
The guidance also instructs staff to call 999 in emergencies or contact 101 in non-emergency situations.
If the “racist incident” is not deemed a hate crime, the guidance advises staff to discuss it with relevant colleagues, parents or carers, and potentially the children involved.
The childcare, play and early years sector in Wales works with children aged 12 and under.
When recording incidents, staff are instructed to note whether the alleged racism was “adult to child”, “systemic racism”, “adult to adult”, or “child to child”.
The guidance also encourages teachers and childcare workers to discuss “anti-racist policy” during staff meetings.
The guidance issued to nurseries for recording racist incidents
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DARPL
Childcare professionals are also encouraged to audit their environments to ensure books, dolls, posters and displays reflect diversity.
The guidance, first issued in 2024, has been circulated by the National Day Nurseries Association.
It is contained within a document produced by Diversity and Anti-Racist Professional Learning (DARPL).
Another stated aim of DARPL is to ensure “minority ethnic stories, contributions, and histories are taught throughout the revised Curriculum for Wales”.
Lynn Neagle, Welsh Labour’s education secretary
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SENEDD
The organisation was founded in 2021 with the goal of “embedding anti-racist professional learning” into Welsh schools.
Earlier this year, Wales released a virtual reality educational platform described as the “world’s first anti-racist virtual world”.
In the virtual space, students are taught the ideas of “patriarchy”, “imperialism” and the concept of “white privilege”.
Based at Cardiff Metropolitan University, it has been granted more than £1.3million by the Welsh Government, with Labour ministers endorsing DARPL’s practices.
Wales first announced plans to become an “anti-racist” nation by 2030 in 2022.
Labour’s anti-racist action plan, published the same year, outlined six key areas of focus, including the experiences of refugees and asylum seekers facing racism.
A separate report commissioned as part of the initiative later claimed the Welsh countryside was “racist” because of “barriers created by exclusions and racism.”
Other projects linked to the wider agenda have included proposals to invest £10,000 into “decolonising” Welsh cakes and museums, alongside discouraging librarians from holding meetings in buildings considered “racist”.
GB News has approached the Welsh Government for comment.