Today our school turned red as a strong message that ‘Ard Rí says NO to racism’. This week the children have been learning about the 9 Grounds of Discrimination and we have all made a strong promise to be kind to everyone we meet. It is important that our young citizens know: “It’s not enough to be non-racist, we need to be anti-racist” (Zulaikha Patel- UN). Each class created a display and presented it to the school assembly. The Chairperson of our Board of Management, Yemi Adenuga, was with us to help celebrate this very important day. You can see all our lovely work and a synopsis of our Assembly presentations below.
In Junior infants we were learning about age-ism. Age is just a number. We can all do it!
In Junior infants we were learning about age-ism. Age is just a number. We can all do it!
Boys and girls should be treated equally and have the same rights. If boys and girls are not respected equally it would not be fair. We read the story about Charlie the Fire Fighter. The children in the story were surprised in the end to find out Charlie was a girl working as a fire fighter. When you grow up you can be anything you want to be.
People should look out for each other and make sure everyone is included. This way we are all able to respect each other and get along better. Sports are for both boys and girls. For example, girls can play football and rugby just as well as boys can. Both can be super strong and very fast. Both are able to be sports superstars. No limits should be placed on anybody. Just like there are no boy jobs and no girl jobs when you grow up, there are no boy and girl colours or toys.
In First Class we have been learning about disability discrimination. A disability means someone has a condition that makes it harder for them to do certain things. Some disabilities are visible like when someone needs a wheelchair or is missing limbs. Some disabilities are invisible like deafness or autism. Nobody should be treated unfairly because they have a disability.
We welcome and appreciate diversity here in our school and this week our class took a closer look at the different religions represented in our school community. We respect all beliefs in our school; religious and non-religious.
People have many different beliefs and gods they worship. The may wear different clothes and pray in different ways but everyone is special. The main religions represented in our school are Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Some people are Humanist or Atheist and do not believe in any god. We learned it is important to respect and welcome everyone, no matter what religion they are. Our message is to be lovely to everyone no matter what they believe in.
Third Class were learning about discrimination on the grounds of Race. We looked at the life of Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was a black woman who lived in America. She played an important part in making positive changes for Black people in American Society. Rosa was on her way home from work. She was asked to give up her seat so a white person could sit down. Rosa Parks said no. She was arrested and had to pay a fine. Her decision to stand up for herself and other Black people started a big movement to end racism. Today we show racism the red card just like Rosa Parks did all those years ago.
Our class learned about discrimination due to a person’s marital status. We discussed inter-racial marriage, inter-faith marriage, discrimination for unmarried people and same-gender marriage. In all these families the love is what matters most.
Discrimination on Family Status occurs where there is less favorable treatment or someone is treated differently because they are pregnant, are a single parent, are a parent or care giver.
In 5th and 6th Class we have focused on the ground of sexual orientation. We have been discussing the importance of understanding how we how we are all different and express our identities in different ways. People in the LGBTQ communities face lots of different challenges and discrimination. We have been learning the importance of respect, understanding and valuing other’s choices and decisions. Love is an important part of all our lives. Difference is wonderful thing as it makes us all special and unique. Love is love!!
6th Class focused on how members of the Traveller Community experience discrimination. Travellers are an indigenous minority group in Ireland. We learned about their history, their language and customs. Travellers traditionally moved around from place to place, spending time with family, working and visiting fairs. Laws changed in Ireland and now Traveller families are less able to travel. A lot of Travellers experience poor living conditions and are discriminated against when looking for work. Travellers suffer a lot of bias from the settled community. Travellers should be helped to live their lives and maintain their culture.
