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Celebrating Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Fostering Good Relations
The Rainbow Flag Award – Supporting and valuing LGBT+ Staff and Students at Bolton College
The College is currently working in partnership with The Proud Trust to get the Rainbow Flag Award which is a kite-mark that shows recognition for organisations that go the extra mile to support and value LGBT+ staff and students. We are on track to achieve this status in July 2021.
Most young people come to terms with their sexuality in their teenage years but, for one reason or other, those who identify as LGBT+ do not always feel comfortable about coming out and expressing their identity when they are at school. For that reason we feel it is very important that such learners feel comfortable about coming out when they progress to College and we want to make sure that Bolton College is a place where everyone feels comfortable enough to be open and upfront about their sexuality or gender identity if they want to.
In the last 12 months we have undertaken the following actions: • Ensured parents are given information about how best to support young people who are coming out about their sexuality/ gender identity.
• Reviewed all College policies to ensure we are sufficiently robust at challenging homophobic and discriminatory behaviour.
• Ensured the College curriculum fully embeds LGBT+ culture, history and role-models.
• All LGBT+ learners have access to well-informed pastoral support if they need it.
• LGBT+ learners have their own
Facebook community and are invited to participate in the College Learner Voice forum.
• Trained our teaching staff so they feel comfortable to address any inappropriate use of homophobic language in College and to help them better understand terminology around LGBT+ identities.
and Fostering Good Relations Diversity and Inclusion Celebrating Equality,
Celebrating Equality, Diversity and Inclusion across Bolton College
At the College we take great pride in having a wide range of activities that celebrate the diversity of our college and promote the inclusion of everyone in our college life. These are promoted through awareness posters, electronic screen promotions, news features, positive case studies and diverse cross-College events.
The Freshers’ Fair is the first opportunity our students have to sample the wide range of activities and events they can get involved in while studying at the College. It is normally held in the College Atrium at the start of term with a wide range of stalls and displays representing the different College groups and departments, as well as partner organisations from the local community. This was held remotely in September 2020 due to Covid restrictions but was still well attended and popular with our learners. The cross-College enrichment programme is designed to allow learners from different departments to meet and spend some quality time together and to make friends with other learners they may not usually come into contact with, thus promoting College and community cohesion. During lockdown this was switched online so that students could continue to support and encourage each other.
The Learner Volunteer Group comprises of learners of various ages and backgrounds; departments work together on events and projects and this brings learners together and develops their awareness and understanding of cultural and social differences.
The College has a range of different sports teams and we also run interdepartmental sports competitions, actively bringing learners from different departments together.
The College’s Early Years and Pre-School Centre also celebrate many cultural events throughout the year with learners’ children, through food tasting, music and craft, and dressing up activities.
Across the College curriculum we plan all kinds of activities to occur throughout the year that promote equality and inclusion and celebrate diversity. This is delivered by a team of 14 Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Champions who come from different curriculum areas, and support teams, and they are led by a senior manager at the College. Champions are recruited from colleagues with an interest and passion for the promotion of EDI. They volunteer to represent protected characteristic sub groups of age, gender, race/ ethnicity, religion & belief, disability, mental health and LGBT+. The EDI Champions aim to be an accessible and visible ‘face of fairness’ who proactively promote inclusion across the College. The group produces an EDI calendar for the College and lead on a range of awareness- raising promotional campaigns. The EDI Champions also produce an annual calendar of national events. The calendar is shared across College as a planning tool for curriculum and an awareness- raising tool for learners. The calendar highlights national events and showcases College events organised by the EDI Champions.
The team meet on a regular basis in order to plan regular displays, events and curriculum initiatives across the College that celebrate the diverse backgrounds of our students. They also critically evaluate the policies and processes of the College to suggest ways to improve the experience for all our learners. For example, the idea of adopting the Rainbow Flag kite-mark to promote inclusion of LGBT+ staff and students at the College came from the EDI Champions team. The EDI Champions have created an online sharing resource that contains teaching and learning materials, video content, web links, case studies and records of celebrations aimed at sharing good practice across College, continuing awareness raising and as a record of our commitment to foster good relations, promote EDI and challenge discrimination.
Events Celebrated
Between 2018 and 2021 the following events have been organised by the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Champions Team, despite the restrictions of lockdown:
• Freshers’ Fair
• Diversity Festival • Black History Month
• Interfaith Week
• A Taste of Bolton Cookery
Competition • World Religion Day • LGBT+ History Month
• International Women’s Day • Mental Health Awareness Week
• Deaf Awareness Week
• World Refugee Day
In the next section we have a couple of recent articles about these events:
The 2019 Bolton College Diversity Festival
Bolton College’s vibrant Diversity Festival has become an annual tradition, enjoyed by staff and students alike.
This year’s Festival was no different; we were treated to traditional Somali, African and Afghan dance; listened to songs from around the world; rocked to the beat of the Steel Drum Band; and enjoyed showstopping performances from our performing arts students.
An abundance of stalls filled the Atrium and corridors, with world food and free hair and beauty treatments on offer. MhIST, Smile of Hope and a selection of other charities also attended.
The sports hall hosted a football tournament, with all proceeds being donated to charity, whilst the LRC screened short films throughout the day, including the Oscar-winning ‘The Silent Child’.
Human Libraries and Dementia Memory Workshops further stressed the vital importance of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion.
Jackie and Martin, from the Justicia Fair Trade shop had the following to say about the event:
“We enjoy the event, it’s a lively day with a variety of stalls and events including music and dancing from different cultures. We have worked closely with Bolton College over the past few years and are impressed by their support of different students with a variety of needs. We hope we have been able to play our part by having some students volunteer to help on our stall and sometimes in our shop. “
Food connoisseurs and VIPs sampled tasty dishes from around the world last week at a cultural cookery competition.
‘A Taste of Bolton’, organised by Women in Neighbourhoods (WiN), Bolton College and Bolton at Home, was a vibrant celebration of cuisine and cultures from around the world, and was held to officially launch ‘A Taste of Bolton’ recipe book.
Competitors were separated in to three categories: students from the College; charities and community groups; and professionals.
Prizes were handed out for best presentation of food, and best recipe and taste. The cook-off started in the College catering kitchens, where the chefs rustled up their dishes.
10 judges sampled the gastronomic delights: celebrity chef Paul Heathcote MBE; food and wine writer Patrick Trodden; the RAF’s Sgt Amanda Edwards; Doctor Baroness Newlove LLD, campaigner and Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Bolton; His Honour Judge William Morris, former Resident Judge of Bolton Crown Court; Edith Conn OBE DL JP, President of Greater Manchester’s British Red Cross; Ray Hanks, Trustee at Gorton Monastery; Shauna Morton from Bolton at Home; and Bolton College’s Principal, Bill Webster.
Mayor of Bolton, Cllr Hilary Fairclough presented the winning teams with their prizes.
She said, “The cultural MasterChef cook off was a brilliant experience and A Taste of Bolton Cook Book is absolutely fabulous. “I must admit I wasn’t sure what to expect at this event but whatever I thought could never have measured up to what actually happened.
“All of the ‘chefs ’ were so accomplished that it would be difficult to have known who were professional and who was considered amateur. I only know that if I had practised all year I couldn’t have come up with anything near the standard tonight.
“The whole event was a triumph.”
Despite most people writing her off, as her English wasn’t good and she had two children under the age of 3, College was Adina’s ambition.
Thankfully, she wasn’t deterred and whilst she struggled initially to split family, work, College assignments and volunteering, she soon started to see her own potential.
She completed ‘Skills for Working with Children’ whilst holding down a full-time role at KFC and a job as a play worker in a school.
She then progressed to a nursery practitioner position, whilst studying Basic Sign Language, Autism Awareness and Level 1 Mental Health Awareness, after deciding that these would be useful to get into the primary education sector, her ambition.
She has since found employment as a teaching assistant, passed her driving test, and had another baby. She said: ‘Through my college life, I’ve met nice people that believed in me, gave me plenty of support, and encouraged me to think positively.’
‘The College works effectively with partners to ensure the Community Learning provision is responsive to local need. Managers at Bolton College plan a curriculum that strives to extend the reach to those most far removed from work and skills. The growth in mental health and wellbeing curriculum during the pandemic, both online and in the Community Learning Hubs, was welcomed by partners and much needed by residents.’
Integrated Work and Health Project Officer, Bolton Council, Team Bolton Curriculum Planning Event 19-20
