17 December, 2019
Students and staff at Ormiston Victory Academy in Costessey are celebrating after the school was awarded the Stonewall Champion Schools Silver Award.
The school was previously granted the Stonewall Bronze Award in December 2018. Its continued commitment to the celebration of equality and diversity has again been recognised, with the school now achieving the status of a Stonewall Silver Champion School from the leading LGBT rights charity.
A key focus of the award was a review of how Victory supports students with tackling harmful gender stereotypes. Feedback from Stonewall’s judging panel noted it was “wonderful to see the way in which challenging gender stereotypes is embedded in your school community and reflected in pupils’ independent work.”
Additionally, the panel commented that the school’s Citizenship sessions on Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation and LGBT History Month were “excellent… please consider sharing these beyond your academy.” The school’s Celebrating Diversity board and the student engagement and reflective discussion generated by it being proudly on display was also highly commended.
The Stonewall Silver Award complements Ormiston Victory Academy’s Wellbeing Award for Schools (WAS), ensuring that students who may be struggling with their gender identity and/or sexuality feel safe and fully supported in terms of their emotional wellbeing.
All staff at Ormiston Victory Academy are trained to challenge homophobic, biphobic and transphobic (HBT) bullying and language, support LGBT young people and provide Relationships & Sex Education (RSE) that is inclusive of LGBT people. Thanks to these efforts, the school is now working to achieve the Stonewall Champion Gold Award.
Naomi Palmer, Principal at Ormiston Victory Academy, said:
“We are delighted to have been awarded the Stonewall Champion Schools Silver Award. After winning the Bronze award last year, we have been working hard to continue developing personalised support for our students and are pleased Stonewall has recognised this.
“Due to Victory’s underpinning ethos of inclusivity, we are confident that we are already well on our way to meeting the criteria for the Gold Award. Restorative justice, education and reparation is at the heart of our approach and we look forward to continuing our journey of championing equality and diversity.”
Category: News
Tags: Diversity, East region, Ormiston Victory Academy, Stonewall
