Last week Sidcot hosted a day dedicated to educating staff and students on gendered language and gender-based violence, led by Bold Voices, an award-winning social enterprise. The day began with training staff on how to respond to and challenge language and attitudes. This was followed by interactive talks to Years 10-11 and 12-13 on misogyny, language, and violence. This incorporated statistics and real-life examples, to build up a picture of how gender inequality manifests in the world around us, and how seemingly harmless attitudes and stereotypes can cause more extreme inequality to grow and thrive.
Students felt that it was a powerful and inspiring day with some commenting “I hadn’t thought about the effect of language in that way before” and “it gave me hope that these issues will become more talked about and inspire change”.
As part of our ongoing work, a group of Sixth-Formers will be taking part in the South West Bold Voices Student Ambassador programme. This is an exciting opportunity to take a lead on creating change around issues of sexism, sexual harassment, and gender inequality. We also need two parent representatives who will take part in three online virtual sessions throughout the next academic year to support this programme. If you are interested, please get in touch.
For more information on any of the EDI work taking place within our school, please contact Mrs Sejal Patel.
sejal.patel@sidcot.org.uk
EDI lead, Sidcot School