A NORTHSIDE school was one of the recipients of an anti-racist award last week.
Ladyswell National School in Mulhuddart was honoured at the Yellow Flag School Diversity Awards that recognise schools that promote equality and inclusion through an eight step accredited programme.
The Yellow Flag, a practical school based programme, provides a framework to develop an environment where every child is valued and included and unfair racist bullying and discrimination is challenged.
Five schools, four primary and one secondary, were awarded a Yellow Flag in recognition of their work to reflect diversity.
Presenting awards were silver Olympic medallist John Joe Nevin and Labour TD and former school principal, Aodhán Ã? RÃordáin, who also made the key note address.
The findings of a report commissioned by the Yellow Flag Programme were also presented.
The report found that intercultural teaching practice rooted in human rights principles contribute to addressing issues of diversity as those messages filter into schools with the arrival of newly qualified teachers into the education system.
According to Paula Madden, Yellow Flag coordinator:
“Piloting the Yellow Flag Programme in a Higher Education Institution (HEI) was a natural progression from our pioneering work in schools, particularly given the dearth of knowledge around national intercultural initiatives among expÂerÂÂienÂced professional teac- hers in schools.
“The 2011 Census showed that 544,357 non-Irish nationals were living in Ireland, representing 199 different nat-Â ions.
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She added:
“Colleges of Education must be supported and resourced to develop affirmative action programmes which encourage greater participation of Travellers and other under-represented ethnic minorities to become teachers and in turn role models to young people.
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Diana Bunici, presenter of TRTE’S elev8 programme acted as MC for the event that was attended by students, parents, educators, politicians, and community representatives. It showcased a colourful and multicultural ceremony with visual, musical and narrative presentations of the programme by pupils from each school.
Also attending the event was Mary McNally, a class teacher at award recipient school, St George’s National School, Balbriggan.
She said: “The Yellow Flag experience gave us the opportunity to come together as a school community. It gave the children a chance to show pride in their differences.
“The Intercultural Day was the best event organised yet in the school by far. It was great to see parents having an opportunity to forge friendships across different communities.
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