Diversity and Inclusion 

The celebration and promotion of the diverse community that we serve here at Our Lady’s is something that we prioritise in every aspect of our school including:

• Policies
  • All of our policies here at Our Lady’s are written in accordance with and to safeguard all protected characteristics under the Equality Act (2010). For additional information and detail on how we fulfill this commitment, please see Policies here most notably our Anti Bullying, Behaviour, Child on Child Abuse, Diversity and Safeguarding policies. 

  • The Halo Code at Our Lady's

    • We are proud to announce our part in the Halo Collective and that our school policies support the Halo Code. 
    • Our school champions the right of students and staff to embrace all Afro-hairstyles. We acknowledge that Afro-textured hair is an important part of our Black community’s racial, ethnic, cultural, and religious identities, and requires specific styling for hair health and maintenance. 
    • We celebrate Afro-textured hair worn in all styles including, but not limited to, afros, locs, twists, braids, cornrows, fades, hair straightened through the application of heat or chemicals, weaves, wigs, headscarves, and wraps.
    • In this school, we recognise and celebrate our community’s identities. We are a community built on an ethos of equality and respect where hair texture and style have no bearing on a child or staff member’s ability to succeed.

• Curriculum
  • All staff at Our Lady’s are committed to providing an engaging and setting centric curriculum that is representative of the community that we serve and that develops a sense of awe and excitement for learning. For further details on how we do this at subject level, please refer to the curriculum maps for each subject, found here (link to subject areas part of website)
  • Assemblies- we follow a holistic approach to assembly content with leaders, year teams and students afforded the opportunity to lead an assembly on different topics through the year. Exposing all students to a wide range of information from different cultures, religions and people to uphold our ethos and values.
     
• Diversity Celebration
  • We strive to create distinct opportunities throughout the school that allow our pupils to reflect upon and learn from the different cultures that make Our Lady’s such a unique place to study. 
  • We celebrate significant events throughout the year such as Black History Month where we enjoyed time outdoors with the Manchester based charity “Black Girls Hike” and invited Sam Buah to come in and talk about his journey into Engineering and Architecture.
  • International Womens day where we welcomed Maria Edwards, one our alumni who plays professional football Maria Edwards. We celebrated Iftar with students from both Muslim and Catholic communities and enjoyed a wonderful talk from an Imam and our own Father Nicholas.