June: National Indigenous History and Pride Month

Across Canada, and in most local schools, June is celebrated as both Pride Month and National Indigenous History Month. In reflection of our values and our aspirations for a more inclusive and understanding society, we recognise both at Mulgrave with a range of age appropriate activities.

National Indigenous History Month

Across Canada, we honour the rich history, heritage, resilience, and diverse cultures, as well as the outstanding contributions of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples.

In 2023, we celebrated by introducing our beautiful new House graphics, which were created by members of the Squamish Nation (see page 33 for more detail), and updating our approach to our land acknowledgements to be more meaningful. These important statements should never be performative and to demonstrate our ongoing commitment to learning, we will update our land acknowledgement throughout the year to share those that have been created by students.

Pride Month

This global celebration is rooted in recognition of the historic Stonewall Riots in New York in the 1960s, which are widely regarded as the birth of the LGBTQ+ human rights movement. To ensure future generations understand and honour these rights, we work to raise our community’s awareness and understanding of differences in gender expression, gender identity, and (for older students) sexual orientation. For our youngest students, our goal is simply that they acknowledge and value differences in people.

As students develop, we want them to also understand the identities of others and how these can lead to both opportunities and challenges of prejudice and discrimination.

Events during Pride Month included a charity bake sale and full-school Rainbow Civvies Day with proceeds going to Qmunity and The Foundry, local associations that support queer youth. Middle School students also read books about inclusion to Junior School grades, and for Upper School students, there were events such as sharing circles and a make-up tutorial.