Abbot’s Lea School celebrate The Rainbow Flag Award success

Abbot’s Lea School is continuing to make great strides towards achieving greater inclusivity through its commitment to The Rainbow Flag Award programme. The school is one of the first Liverpool special schools to participate in the programme. The Rainbow Flag Award is a national quality assurance framework for all schools and youth-centred organisations. The award focuses on positive LGBT+, (lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, plus other related identities), inclusion and visibility. The school has now gone on to complete two further sections of the programme and has earned badges for ‘Skilled Teacher’ and ‘Pastoral Support’. The Skilled Teacher section focuses on equipping educators with essential understanding and effective skills to foster a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for LGBT+ students. The school has achieved this by implementing a series of initiatives, including the creation of an LGBT+ board for staff members. The training was designed to reinforce appropriate terminology, understand the difference between sexual orientation and gender identity, and provide a list of external organisations for further support. The guidance was instrumental in educating staff on how to consistently challenge and report any form of LGBT phobia. The school also successfully completed the pastoral support section which included various measures to create a welcoming atmosphere for LGBT+ students, such as displaying welcoming posters on the doors of pastoral service. As part of this, an LGBT+ pastoral support handbook was created which offers information on different identities, support channels, and methods of self-care and exploration. By successfully completing these sections of the Rainbow Flag Award programme, the school has shown its unwavering commitment to promoting LGBT+ inclusion and visibility. Headteacher of Abbot’s Lea School, Mrs Ania Hildrey, said: “By promoting diversity and inclusion, we actively contribute to a more accepting world, and we are proud to be part of this ongoing societal journey.”