Diversity, according to google is - “the practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.”
That is exactly what we are doing within the Diversity Group at Felixstowe School. As a collective, we meet every Wednesday and Friday during break time to discuss possible and ongoing changes that we believe would benefit the school and the people within it.
Promoting diversity in communities, especially schools and places of work, is essential for people to be comfortable and able to feel like they have a place to belong. It is important for people to be familiar with this from a young age. Being transgender and queer myself, I am extremely passionate about changes being made to make the school a more inclusive place for all kinds of people, especially those who feel less accepted within society.
Listed below are just a few of the things that the diversity and inclusion group have achieved so far:
Two gender neutral toilets on each floor of the school.
Changing facilities for those who identify as trans and non binary.
A massive increase in displays around school.
The Rainbow Laces Campaign (Stonewall).
Each of these achievements have had a major impact on pupils and staff around the school which is something that we are very proud of. We are aware that there are still a lot of improvements that need to be made, especially within the curriculum, to push the school to where it needs to be in terms of inclusivity and these are being tackled in our meetings. These include:
Pronoun badges which could help both students and teachers become more familiar and knowledgeable about the correct use of pronouns.
Gendered terms in school literature such as letters or the website. These would be replaced with neutral terms to cater to everybody.
Enrichment days having more input from students, especially when talking about subjects that teachers may not be familiar with or have taught before.
Feel free to join us in the future if you feel like this is something that you’re passionate about or would like to contribute to. Anyone is welcome!
We usually meet in Ms Fisher’s classroom Wednesdays and Fridays at around 10:05. Hope to see you there :)
By Felix Wiseman
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