What is Yellow Flag?
Yellow Flag is a practical programme that supports schools to become more inclusive of all cultures and ethnicities, celebrate diversity and challenge racism and discrimination. There are 8 steps in the programme and tasks associated with each step. Each step will bring us closer to our goal – a Yellow Flag and a more intercultural school.
What are the steps of the Yellow Flag Programme?
Step 1: Getting Started, keeping track and promoting the schools’ Yellow Flag Work
Step 2: The Diversity Committee
Step 3: Intercultural Awareness Training
Step 4: The Intercultural Review
Step 5: The Action Plan
Step 6: Going beyond the School Walls: Engaging with Parents and the Community
Step 7: Curriculum Work
Step 8: Diversity Code, Diversity Statement and Policy Review
What have we accomplished so far?
We have established our Diversity Committee who are working tirelessly towards achieving our Yellow Flag. By the end of February, we will have completed our Intercultural Review, involving surveys for students, teachers and parents. In March, all teachers will participate in Intercultural Awareness Training.
In addition, three of brilliant members of our Diversity Committee, Sabiha Hossain, Maisa Uddin and Tasnuva Ahmed, spoke to RTE yesterday about their experiences of being young Irish Muslim girls and what wearing a hijab means to them. They feature strongly in this article on the RTE website (Women and girls in Ireland celebrate World Hijab Day (rte.ie)) and were included on Morning Ireland and the main news broadcasts on RTE television. As we work towards our Yellow Flag, it is wonderful to see the diversity in our school celebrated so positively on the national stage. Well done girls, we are so proud of you!
Get involved!
We currently have a small but committed Diversity Committee of students and teachers, but we would love to have even more people involved! If you are a parent, and would like to find out more about joining our Diversity Committee, please email Ms. Ciara Ryan at cryan@smcn.ie before the end of February. If you are a student and would like to join our Diversity Committee, please pick up an application at reception and return it to the Yellow Flag application box before the mid-term.