Loreto Wexford - School of Sanctuary Portfolio

Trip to the Presentation Secondary School, Wexford On the 4/5/23 members of the School of Sanctuary group were delighted to attend the Multicultural Morning in the Presentation. We visited this academic year's event in October of 2023 also and we hope these close ties with our neighbouring school will become a tradition each year.

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Afterwards, there were interviews with ‘Wexford People’ and Wexford Local Development.&nbsp;We had lunch with other students and made new friends, which is incredible. We also added a leaf with our own unique design to the diversity tree. It is utterly amazing to see schools making such efforts to create an inclusive environment for everyone. The ceremony at the Opera House was a memorable experience for all of us. Students’ courage to speak in front of everyone is truly inspiring. Seeing other students support each other is a fantastic thing to witness. This ceremony has inspired me to keep shining a light and spreading positivity.

Activities organised included: - A video on Multiculturalism created by TY students sharing their experiences of racism in society - Class talk about human rights and the importance of diversity in society delivered by Community Garda Anne Quirke - A class talk delivered by a 3rd-year student on why her hijab is an important part of her identity. - Students were asked to wear any hair accessory to mark Hijab Day - A Multicultural fashion show and food stand for students and family - Celebration of Japan Day with TY students watching a Japanese film and tasting Japanese food - Songs from different cultures were played over the school intercom at the end of each day throughout Multicultural Week.

Tell us about your homeplace: Homs is the largest city in Syria. I lived in a large house or mansion with 9 different families. We were all related. Each family had a separate apartment in the house.&nbsp; I did not attend school in Syria as I left when I was 6.&nbsp;&nbsp;

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Our Strong History of Promoting Multiculturalism: Please visit our school newsletter for articles on previous events in our school promoting multiculturalism https://loretowexford.com/news/30-november-2018/ https://loretowexford.com/news/15-november-2019/ https://loretowexford.com/news/12-march-2021/ https://loretowexford.com/news/23-april-2021/ https://loretowexford.com/news/14-may-2021/

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Language Lesson.docx

Lesson Plan Cultural Appropriation.docx

A key aspect of each year is to bring multiculturalism into the classroom. Student volunteers have put together wonderful lesson plans over the years on topics such as cultural appropriation and languages to name a few. Click the links to see these lesson plans.

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LEARN: Visit from the School of Sanctuary

Homayoon Shirzad from the School of Sanctuary talk inspired all our multicultural volunteers to commit to carrying out all that is required to ensure Loreto Wexford becomes a champion school of sanctuary.

2023 We have begun our journey in Loreto, Wexford to become a School of Sanctuary. A School of Sanctuary is a school that is committed to creating a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment that benefits everybody, especially families seeking sanctuary. It is a school that helps its students, staff, parents, and the wider community to understand what it means to be a refugee and to extend a welcome to everyone regardless of their immigration status. Schools of Sanctuary is not a project, nor a short-term school initiative. It is a culture that schools achieve over time to ensure everyone feels welcomed, safe, and included in the school and beyond.

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Ukraine: The world was shocked and saddened by the war in Ukraine and the hundreds of thousands of people displaced from their homes. By April 2022, we had welcomed Ukrainian students to our school. We were honoured to welcome the families of our Ukrainian pupils to Loreto and we held an informal dinner evening supplying families with ingredients so they could cook their own traditional meal in our Home Ec kitchen. It was wonderful to chat to our guests and share stories in a relaxed atmosphere.

Our Pledge: The first two pages of our pledge list the names of our school management team and core teacher and student members of our School of Sanctuary Committee. We have many other pages signed by the school community and we included sample of these here too.

ACTION The Multicultural Fashion Show and Stands took centre stage. First years and TYs enjoyed a great show of cultural style with 16 different cultures represented. Parents, students from the Presentation Secondary School, Wexford, members of the community, members of An Garda Síochána and School of Sanctuary rep Homayoon Shirzad also attended. Malavika Manoj interviewed each model about her culture after she walked the catwalk.

Past Pupils &amp; Role Models

Mindulee Seneviratne: Mindulee was born in Sri Lanka and was a key leader in celebrating Multicultural Week in Loreto in 2018 &amp; 2019. Mindulee became Head Girl of Loreto in her Sixth Year thus becoming a wonderful role model for the increasing number of students from different minority ethnic backgrounds in our school. Mindulee was nominated as a 'Wednesday Warrior' for Beat FM for her dedicated work promoting inclusion and diversity. She went on to become Miss Wexford in 2021! Currently in Maynooth University studying Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Mindulee’s dream job is to become a dermatologist and to one day create her own line of skin care products.

Mindulee explains the significance of becoming Head Girl in Loreto

Name:&nbsp;Aoife Byrne&nbsp; Age: 13&nbsp; Year:&nbsp;Second Year, 2.1&nbsp; Home:&nbsp;Castlebridge&nbsp; Favourite Food:&nbsp;Pasta&nbsp; Favourite TV Show:&nbsp;Heartstopper&nbsp;from Netflix&nbsp; Favourite Subject:&nbsp;History&nbsp; Favourite Hobby:&nbsp;Horse riding&nbsp; What I Like about School:&nbsp;&nbsp;The diversity of the school population&nbsp;

Our Inclusion Committee in Loreto aims to create a safe space for students to celebrate our differences and help ensure everyone feels included and accepted in Loreto Wexford. For the 22/23 school year we welcomed thirty-eight new and old members, including students and teachers. Our aims for the school year are as follows: 	Term 1 – LGBT Stand-Up Awareness Week 	Term 2 – Multicultural Week &amp; World Hijab Day 	Term 3 – Members of our group can pick a topic of their choice that they feel passionate about for the final term. This year we will focus on Down Syndrome Awareness Interviews with Ms. M. Jordan are held during the school year where students can share their stories or issues they have dealt with or are passionate about. These will be shared with the school community through the school newsletter under the regular section 'Diverse Voices'.

Visit from St. Mary's Secondary School, New Ross, 22/01/24:

Members of the school community and wider community who support our work:

School of Sanctuary Award Ceremony, 6/12/23: Report by Yosra El Hussein On December 6th myself, Ms. Jordan, and members of the Inclusion Committee made our way to the National Opera House in Wexford Town and received an award for being a Champion School of Sanctuary along with four other schools!&nbsp;This means that our school is nationally recognised as a welcoming place for refugees, immigrants, and people from diverse backgrounds. On the day, each school had the chance to share the actions taken to ensure this important recognition. We all learned from each other in this way.

Share: Promoting the School of Sanctuary message in our local media

Our Multicultural Week has been running since 2018 and always makes it into the newspapers and onto our local radio station South East Radio! Please click on the speaker to hear one of the interviews.

A Note from Ms. M Jordan:&nbsp; I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to all members of the Inclusion Committee and Multicultural Group, past and present, who worked tirelessly to educate members of the school community about their cultures and traditions. They have proven that by embracing diversity we strengthen our community. This is an important lesson for us to take with us into the wider community. Initiatives like Schools of Sanctuary shine a light on the wonderful atmosphere of welcome and acceptance which exists in communities across our country.

A Message From Our Principal, Mr. John McGinnity:

As a school, we are proud to welcome over 900 students to Loreto, Wexford each day. Each student has their own unique life story, and we are delighted to have the opportunity to guide them through their secondary education. Our school is one that welcomes diversity, innovation and creativity. As a school community, we welcome students from many different areas, and we believe strongly in promoting a school that is inclusive, welcoming and embracing of difference. Indeed, it is the contribution of all members of the school community which makes it such a vibrant place.&nbsp; At its heart, a school of sanctuary seeks to provide a school environment that is safe, caring and compassionate. These values rest at the centre of what we try to achieve in our daily interactions. We hope that this portfolio gives you a sense of the wonderful work happening here. I thank all involved in making our school what it is today, and I hope you enjoy reading our book!

Share: Links with Other Schools

We are delighted to forge links with other schools in our community, including those on their own School of Sanctuary journey. This year the Presentation Secondary School visited our Multicultural Fashion Show &amp; Stands and we travelled to Bunclody Vocational College to join in their School of Sanctuary event. We have also made contact with Selskar College to ensure that there is a school where boys attend in the School of Sanctuary network in our town.

Schools of Sanctuary Monitoring Day:

Loreto Wexford - School of Sanctuary Portfolio

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LEARN: Garda Anne Quirke addressed all first years on human rights and the importance of diversity in society, this ensured that students were keenly aware of the importance of respect for multiculturalism.

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Human Rights and Diversity.pptx

As is always the case, our photographs are much more effective than words when it comes to conveying the true spirit of our celebrations:&nbsp;

Loreto Wexford

Since 1866 Loreto Wexford has been dedicated to furthering girls' education in Wexford. Loreto Wexford has seen many transformations throughout the years, most recently with the school moving to its new home in Pembroke Hill. Loreto Wexfords committee has grown in recent years with over 900 students currently enrolled. Our school ethos aims to promote Mary Ward's values of Truth, freedom, justice, sincerity and joy

The Fashion Show gave everyone the opportunity to display their culture's fashion and music. The inclusion of the interview in the Show ensured that students could share other aspects of their culture with their peers. Students spoke about stereotypes, festivals, food and sport.

Name:&nbsp;Alicia Omo Age: 15 Year:&nbsp;TY, 4.2 Country of birth:&nbsp;England Parents' Country of birth:&nbsp;Nigeria

My experience of Multicultural Week: I like to take part in Multicultural Week because it shines a light on all the different cultures in our school and it is fun to show off the wonderful food and clothes of my home country.

After each presentation Mayor John Hegarty and Wexford Rose Bronagh Hogan presented us with our plaque and school certificate. We took part in a beautiful ritual for world peace. Students from each school carried a candle and placed it by a globe on stage. We observed a minute of silence as we read the names of all the countries impacted by war in 2023 on the stage screen. The choir from the Presentation Secondary School finished the ceremony with ‘A Song for Ukraine’ which they sang beautifully.

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SHARE: We joined the other secondary schools of Wexford town to come together to help those impacted by the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey. We wore red and white as a symbol of the two countries to show our solidarity with the many people whose lives had been altered irrevocably by the disaster.

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Ukrainian people living in our community meet in&nbsp;Min&nbsp;Ryan&nbsp;Park each Wednesday at 10.05am. They simply pair up with an English speaker to walk the park and chat. This develops their conversational English and forges bonds in our local community. A group of twelve TY volunteers attend the event with Ms. Johns every Wednesday from 10 until 11am.&nbsp; All are welcome and it is a wonderfully rewarding experience for all involved.

ACTION &amp; LEARN Hijab Day

Yosra addressed 3rd&nbsp;year students on why her hijab is an important part of her identity. She emphasised the importance of a woman’s right to choose what she wears which is enshrined in Islamic law. Students wore a hair accessory to show their support.

world hijab day.pptx

Our collection for the Irish Red Cross in support of the people of Ukraine reached €7,002.

Multiculturalism During Covid-19: Even a global pandemic did not dampen our spirits when it came to promoting equality, acceptance and inclusion in our school community! Have a look at our 15 minute video which was viewed by the entire school population to mark Multicultural Week 2021.

Wex People 2021.docx

Name: Yosra El Hussein (pronounced Yuss-ra).&nbsp;&nbsp; Age: 14&nbsp; Year: Second Year, 2.2&nbsp; Home: Homs, a city in Syria&nbsp;

Tell us about your homeplace: Even though I was born in England, I would identify Nigeria as my home country. My mother left Nigeria in her 20s, but both my parents have instilled in me and my two siblings a love for the culture and traditions of Nigeria. My parents speak Yoruba in the family home, one of the many native languages of Nigeria. While I don’t speak this language myself, I understand what my parents are saying. The food we eat at home reflects the culture of Nigeria such as jellof rice and pounded yams. We listen to Afrobeat, which is a genre of African music. We are also close with another family in the community from Nigeria. My favourite memory: Two years ago, I attended a wedding with my family of a Nigerian couple in Dublin. It’s a really special memory for me because I haven’t had the chance to visit Nigeria yet but at the wedding, I felt more at home than I ever had as I was surrounded by people I could relate to. The guests wore traditional Nigerian clothes, and the bride and groom wore elaborate clothes woven with gold and black for the Christian ceremony.

Life at the moment: I am so happy to have access to education and have my family with me.&nbsp; My message for everyone is that we should be grateful to be educated and be with our families.&nbsp;

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Wear Red Day, Friday 31st March 2023

Students wore a red accessory with their uniforms and got their faces painted red by members of the Inclusion Committee and the Students' Council to mark 'Wear Red Day' and to 'show racism the red card'

Stand Up Week: I have mixed feelings about the week.&nbsp;&nbsp; Some people in my community feel it’s lovely to see the flags displayed and to have teachers start a positive conversation about the meaning of the week. It’s an opportunity for everyone to learn. For example, we heard this week that&nbsp;an alarmingly high number, 76% of LGBTQ+ students, do not feel safe at school in Ireland. I don’t feel this is an accurate reflection of our school which is mainly open. Unfortunately, I am aware that this is not the case in every school and this needs to be addressed.&nbsp; But others feel like there is a danger that the week could just be tokenism if people go back to behaving in a negative way once the week is over. The aim is to make the school a happier and safer place for members of my community, where they can openly talk about their partners without it being a big deal, where they can openly express themselves and be who they are without having to analyse or explain. And to be able to do that every week of the school year, not just Stand-Up Week.&nbsp;

Inclusion Committee: I joined this committee because I wanted to help people express who they really are. In my primary school, it felt like everybody wanted to be the same and they were afraid to show their differences. I want to help people celebrate their differences.&nbsp;&nbsp; Aspect of Inclusion:&nbsp; I feel most passionate about the LGBTQ aspect of inclusion. I’m part of the community myself. People are often mistreated simply because of their sexual orientation, and this may go unnoticed by people who aren’t members of the community. An example would be parents not wanting their daughters to be friends with us or refusing to meet us simply because we’re members of the LGBTQ+ community.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

LEARN: Diverse Voices

An important job of the Inclusion Committee is to give everyone a voice. Sometimes we might unintentionally overlook the voices of those from a minority group and miss a valuable chance to learn more about our wonderfully diverse school community. In November we celebrate Stand-Up Week This initiative supports members of the LGBTQ+ community within our school. A range of activities took place throughout the week, culminating in students wearing a rainbow accessory to school.

ACTION &amp; LEARN: Video on Multiculturalism

A key aspect of ensuring Multicultural Week remains an important event on our school calendar is to reflect on how we can improve year on year. Last year’s survey after the event showed that it was an enjoyable experience for the vast majority, but it was pointed out that students may have overly focused on the food of the cultures rather than really opening up to learning about life in cultures other than their own. To address this TY students spent many weeks interviewing students from minority cultures in the school. They collated their findings in a video that helped us all to reflect on the idea of unconscious bias. The interviews highlighted how students felt safe and happy in school, but students and teachers may unwittingly stereotype them because of their appearance or where they are from. This powerful video got us all thinking and talking about our subconscious behaviour.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHk3uE0bemc&amp;feature=youtu.be">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHk3uE0bemc&amp;feature=youtu.be</a>

When did you leave Syria? My mother 3 siblings and I left Syria for Lebanon when I was 6 because of the war. We lost one of our siblings, my nine-year-old brother, on the journey.&nbsp; A family friend who worked in the local council helped us to escape the country in a van. He had the power to do that because he worked for the government. I remember hearing shooting when I was in this van.&nbsp; My father left ahead of us for Lebanon so he could secure a home and a job. We wanted to get by ourselves and not ask for charity. It took us 6 months to get to Lebanon.&nbsp; We stayed in Lebanon for 4 years. The people were very welcoming and understanding. I went to school there. I started in second class. I learned English, Arabic, History, Geography, Science, Maths and Arts and Crafts. School lasted from 6am to 5pm!&nbsp; In Lebanon we had summer school where we got extra help with some subjects such English and learning the Koran.&nbsp;&nbsp; I came to Ireland when I was 9. It was a long process to get passports to come to Ireland. We travelled on 4 different planes to get here and lived in a hotel in Monasterevin in Kildare for 6 months. We went to school in Kildare Educate Together. We went on a lot of trips to get to know the area.&nbsp;&nbsp; I was put into second class. My teacher Louise was so nice. She had studied medicine but switched to teaching. I was her favourite student! Talking with English speakers really helped my English.&nbsp;

School of Sanctuary Anti-racism Webinar:

Fifteen students from third year attended a webinar on 'Wear Red Day' hosted by the School of Sanctuary where they heard stories from activists and refugees about their experiences. The overriding message was one of hope for a bright and diverse future.

'The rest is still unwritten' We look forward to adding many more pages to our Schools of Sanctuary story as we continue to ensure our school is place of safety and inclusion for all.

Key Student Members of our School of Sanctuary Committee:

Parents' Council On Monday the 8th of May, Ms. Jordan delivered a presentation on the School of Sanctuary to members of our Parents' Council. Parents were delighted to sign the School of Sanctuary pledge afterwards.

ACTION: Multicultural Week 2023

This year we celebrated Multicultural Week from Monday the 27th&nbsp;of February to the 3rd of Match. This was a very important week for our school community as we aimed to shine a light on the many wonderful cultures in our diverse student population.

The theme of our Multicultural Week was Educate &amp; Celebrate. We wanted to promote the importance of spreading awareness of the different cultures in our school community while also giving the students from those cultures the opportunity to create a dialogue about the struggles they have and continue to face

My Message LGBTQ+:&nbsp; Our sexual orientation shouldn’t have any impact on how we are judged as people.&nbsp; I understand that people might feel afraid of saying the wrong thing or using the wrong terminology but if people are open to learning, nobody will judge them for mistakes made about flags of phrases.&nbsp; Treat people with respect. If you don’t like their way of life leave them be, but don’t judge.&nbsp;

After the fashion show, students and guests visited the cultural stands to experience all that is wonderful about our diverse cultures. Donations to the Irish Refugee Council raised €121.

Our school's Justice and Peace Committee also set up a stand and collected signatures for our School of Sanctuary pledge. The students were on hand to explain why the School of Sanctuary is important and answer questions about what this status means.

Multicultural Week 2021 In 2021, a key part of the week involved Sixth Year student Noon Abubakar. Noon made a moving short film which was shown to all students followed by a Q&amp;A session. The film was screened in the Wexford Arts Centre to widespread acclaim. Noon was also Beat FM's 'Wednesday Warrior' and spoke on the radio station about her experiences in Ireland.

Does My Life Matter? I'm Noon, I'm 17 and I'm Black - Stage Door Live #TheLastWord #BlackLivesMatter

Wednesday's Warrior - Noon Abubakar

Memories from home: My favourite memory would be our house and that I grew up so close to my cousins and my extended family. My grandmothers and uncles and aunts are still in Syria. They cannot leave because they have no passports. Once or twice a year if the electricity comes on, we can talk to them on a video phone. They cook on oil and gas and use candles because the electricity has been badly damaged due to the war that has been happening there for the last 11 years.&nbsp; My granny Tamtam is 100 years old. She wants to escape to Jordan because she has children there who she would like to see before she dies but this very difficult without a passport.&nbsp;&nbsp; 1kg of sugar costs €20 because of the war. Family members who work outside the country earn money and send money home to the family still in Homs.&nbsp; Once when I was asleep in our house in Homs, I was awoken by a gunshot. It hit the wall 2cm from my bed. This also happened to my brother and mother too. We had to stay very quiet in Homs so as not to put ourselves in danger. There were soldiers with weapons outside our door. We knew we had to leave to stay safe.&nbsp;

Ms. Karina Johns' Easter Ukrainian Event: Ms. Johns and her team of teacher volunteers and 5th year volunteers put together a wonderful day of events for over 40 primary school children and their parents on 27.03.23. Events planned throughout the day gave parents and their children the chance to chat and feel the warmth of a Loreto Wexford welcome.

Ukrainian Easter Event itinerary.docx

Bake Sale for Syria:&nbsp; When I saw the UNICEF link to help the children still in Syria, I asked Ms. Jordan and the Inclusion Committee to help. I do not want other children to go through what I went through. When we donate money, these children will be provided with essentials like clean water and food. We are not terrorists in Syria, we are victims. Just because we do not have blonde hair and blue eyes, we are not bad people. All Irish people do not have ginger hair and freckles. There are people with blonde hair and blue eyes from the Middle East. We must stop stereotyping people. I think this will create more peace in the world. Please support the school bake sale by purchasing treats this Friday 8th of April. I will not be eating the treats because of Ramadan but I will be there to sell the cakes and I look forward to getting treats during Eid!&nbsp;

An important job of the Inclusion Committee is to give everyone a voice. Sometimes we might unintentionally overlook the voices of those from a minority group and miss a valuable chance to learn more about our wonderfully diverse school community. In this new regular feature, we hope to share the interesting stories of students from diverse backgrounds. As we prepare for Multicultural Week on the 27th&nbsp;of February, we hear this week from TY student, Alicia Omo who will represent Nigeria.

Life in Nigeria: My mother left Nigeria because she could not get work and she felt that the government of her country did not run the country well. It is not run in a democratic way. A small number of people hold all the wealth and power while the vast majority struggle to make a living. My father was lucky to secure a good job in Nigeria. He works in a bank and loves it there but visits us regularly. He always brings spices and items from home that we can’t easily get in Wexford when he visits. What Nigeria is bringing to Multicultural Week this year: My partner Zinzile and I are focusing on clothes and food for this year’s celebrations, and we look forward to celebrating with all the other cultures! Life at the moment: Life is good here in Wexford and Wexford is my home now, but I look forward to visiting Nigeria one day.

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