June was a colourful month at Tiffin with flags and rainbows decorating the school, and staff sporting rainbow lanyards in celebration of Pride Month and as a show of support for our school LGBT+ community. The highlight of the month was the last week of June when Tiffin joined over two million other pupils and school staff to participate in Diversity Week, developed by LGBT+ charity Just Like Us. We celebrated here at Tiffin by holding interactive tutor time lessons, screening the Oscar-nominated animated film ‘Nimona,‘ offering fun lunchtime activities like drop-in art sessions and a school-wide scavenger hunt, and organising our annual staff and student volleyball match, a joyful afternoon of music and lots of refreshing rainbow ice lollies!
Laura Mackay, Chief Executive of Just Like Us, the LGBT+ young people’s charity, said: “The climate for LGBT+ young people is challenging right now, so it’s incredibly encouraging to see that more than 7,000 schools across the UK will be celebrating School Diversity Week this year. I am especially grateful to the teachers and school staff who are making this possible, ensuring that pupils are able to learn about allyship, and kindness and celebrating all of our differences.”
In conjunction with our celebrations, we organised a Rainbow Accessories Day and a Rainbow ice lolly sale to raise money for our Diversity Week chosen charity: LGBT+ young people’s charity Just Like Us whose mission is to make schools safer, happier and more welcoming places for all young people. Just Like Us not only organises Diversity Week celebrations annually across the country, they also run school talks, a student-led Pride Groups programme, and an Ambassador Programme to train LGBT+ 18-25 year olds to speak in schools about allyship. Although the final tally isn’t yet complete, your generosity helped us raise over £600 for them—thank you!
