Starting off the new half-term with a great legacy and spirit that the previous Head Student Teams have left us with, has set the tone for the year ahead and provides great foundations to build upon.  

The key area that I am focused on is Diversity & Inclusion in our school community, an area which will enable students to feel more confident and respectful of one another. This in turn will lead to improving our team working skills and giving us an abundance of innovative ideas, vital to our wellbeing and place in the future workforce.  

Currently we are working on Pride Month through a myriad of festivities, from decorations throughout the school of different flags which have sparked many meaningful conversations, to incredibly creative charity events! We hope that by creating such an enjoyable and prominent month, the message of acceptance and awareness spread throughout Pride Month will be fully absorbed and appreciated by every individual in our community. 

Another exciting way to ensure that the message of Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) is embedded throughout the year is through the D&I calendar. Myself and the other members of the team have each selected months during which we will organise ways to celebrate and raise awareness of different days of importance relating to D&I such as Eid, Holi and International Women’s Day. Black History Month in October is an excellent example of this, where we will have many activities, such as form time activities, guest speakers, movie nights, class research projects and many more ways to engage our student body.  

By being able to celebrate many days that are relevant to students across the school and by asking students what they would like to see being represented through the student voice, it is our aim to help everyone to feel more happy and secure, not just in school, but also within the wider community and in our day-to-day lives. For example, a Culture Week has been a popular request throughout the school community and by our Sixth Form Prefects and is something we hope to hold during the early weeks of next term. During Culture Week we plan to have: food from cultures around the world; parent-led workshops; and speakers on specific topics such as from those from cultural art centres; and a fashion show of people wearing their traditional dress. I believe this will greatly boost the school community’s awareness and knowledge of different cultures and will add to developing our many magnificent values including tolerance and acceptance.   

Overall, we will aim to improve Diversity & Inclusion in our school community by ensuring that we provide students a platform to be able to share their views and backgrounds through a variety of means, such as through more student-led assemblies, charity events, articles in our school newspaper and also enrichment activities.  

Written by Alisha, Year 12, Head Student Team