Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Column

Presentation to classes. 

Friday 16^th April was certainly a wonderful day for Juniors as a special virtual Assembly was held at which new books were presented to each class for their library.  Ms Keane, Deputy Head Academic (Juniors) reported that, ‘Our Library budget this year has been allocated to ensure that our books portray characters of a wide range of backgrounds and cultures so that all children can find stories and characters that they can identify with.’

Boxes of books for classes from Nursery to Upper II were laid out by Mrs Bhatti and Mrs Wood so that all the forms could see what they would be receiving.  The Assembly was attended by a selection of girls from Lower I to Upper II, together with the Upper II library monitors.

Mrs Bhatti, our School Librarian, commented, ‘Together with teachers and children, we have selected books which promote culture and diversity’.

Mrs Mackay, Deputy Head Pastoral (Juniors) said, ‘What a wonderful selection of books to enrich the lives of all those from the Nursery to Upper II’.

Ramadan is a time of reflection and devotion and this year is taking place from 13^th April to 12^th May.  At St Augustine’s Priory we are looking at ways to support those Muslims who are fasting during this month and also taking the opportunity to learn more about this time.  A room is available for those fasting to use at lunchtime for prayers

Mrs Mackay reports that ‘The Preps were given a presentation by Mrs Islam about Ramadan this week, she even brought in some books and imagery for the girls to see. Prep I and II have been carrying out a range of activities and had the opportunity to ask lots of questions.  Girls throughout the Juniors have been putting together their own presentations about Ramadan and fasting and have been presenting them to their peers and this will continue as we move into next week.   As a staff we also discussed Ramadan and fasting in our Junior meeting and talked about ways in which we could support those students and staff  who are fasting at this time.’

We are also using the Schools Inclusion Alliance work on asking girls who are observing Ramadan to talk to us about how we can help them with their duties.