Celebrating Pride Month Together

As part of our ongoing commitment to creating an inclusion community and celebrating diversity, Victoria College and Jersey College for Girls will be celebrating Pride month this week. We will be flying the Pride flag, celebrating our LGBTQ+ community and using lessons to create meaningful conversations. Subject teachers in both schools will plan specific lessons to focus on an element of Pride; we will highlight LGBTQ+ role models in these lessons, as well as exploring relevant poetry, music and learning through drama.

To further our cooperation, we will work collaboratively on a community Pride Art project, with Year 12 students from each school working on joint sculptures. We are working with Arthouse Jersey to create an exhibition and video that will celebrate this project.

Both schools are committed to the Rights of the Child, as laid out by UNICEF in their charter; both schools share Article 2, the right to non-discrimination, and Article 12, respect for the views of the child, in their school charters. This collaborative Pride week, harmonises these two strands, with students also creating a joint assembly and leading in the planning of the week’s events.

We hope Friday will celebrate diversity in both schools. Jersey College for Girls will be holding a Festival of Cultures, which includes a range of workshops from different cultures and culminates in a gala of food from students’ different cultures, which they will share with their peers. Victoria College will be having a non-uniform day with students in bright, colourful clothing; the money raised will be split between the local charity Liberate, the Channel Islands’ equality and diversity charity, and The Trevor Project, which is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ) young people under 25. They will also fundraise by selling colourful ice lollies and having a staff versus student event on College Field at lunchtime.

Both schools will also invite outside speakers in to engage students and develop their understanding of inclusion. JCG’s Festival of Cultures day on Friday 25th June will begin with a short address from Hannah Wilson Co-Founder and Director of Diverse Educators who will talk to students about the importance of valuing and contributing to our diverse community.

A number of Old Victorians (OVs) have agreed to give virtual assemblies to current students on their experiences whilst being at school and to talk about what Pride means to them, amongst the speakers is Tom Falle from Rhumba Club (recently named #2 New Artist of 2020 by GQ magazine).

Headmaster Mr Alun Watkins stated ‘Our College is for all boys, from all walks of life. We want to celebrate each and every one of them. I am delighted with the efforts from our students and staff to produce such an engaging and different take on education this week.

Mrs Falla, one of our English Teachers and Student Voice Co-ordinator has been instrumental in the implementation of the UNICEF RRSA programme, which has been extremely well received by our students. We are beginning to see the positive impact of our actions on students and staff, across our ethos, practice and environment. I hope that our support of Pride Month helps to educate our boys towards becoming better more rounded people.’ 

Vice Principal (JCG) Toni Rollo stated ‘The world is a rapidly changing place. Now more than ever it is vital that we equip young people for life beyond our Colleges. Recently, I had the privilege of meeting Her Excellency Yamina Karitanyi UK High Commissioner Rwanda and as part of our discussion she stated that it is no longer simply an option for women to play their part in the community, it is an obligation. For me, this was such a personal and brilliant message. Over the last two years, our students and staff have been at the forefront of many changes and we are delighted that, as we move out of some restrictions, we can come together as a community to celebrate the importance of each individual.’