Tipperary school recognised for work on LGBTQ+ wellbeing and inclusion
Patrician Presentation Secondary School in Fethard, County Tipperary was awarded
44 schools and Youthreach centres from across Ireland have received the Belong To LGBTQ+ Quality Mark recognising their work over an 18-month period to foster LGBTQ+ wellbeing and inclusion for their students.
Patrician Presentation Secondary School in Fethard, County Tipperary was one of the 44 schools to received the award and the only school in Tipperary to do so.
The schools and centres were presented with their awards at an event in the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, which was attended by over 350 staff and student representatives and hosted by social media influencer and TV presenter James Kavanagh.
The 44 schools presented with their LGBTQ+ Quality Mark today represent 17 counties across the country and 26,000 post primary school students.
The accreditation initiative was developed by Belong To – LGBTQ+ Youth Ireland in 2022. That year, the School Climate Survey by Columbia University revealed that 76% of LGBTQ+ young people in Ireland do not feel safe in post-primary schools. Since the pilot programme, over 100 schools and Youthreach centres have embarked on the LGBTQ+ Quality Mark journey to improve the lives and experiences of their LGBTQ+ students.
The initiative draws on national and international best practice to create an environment where students feel safe and welcome regardless of who they are. This is done through a host of practical, proactive actions such establishing an LGBTQ+ and Allies Club for students, training whole-staff teams on supporting LGBTQ+ students and promoting the representation of LGBTQ+ families and identities in classroom teaching.
The School Climate Survey 2022, showed that an action as simple as including LGBTQ+ related topics in the curriculum resulted in young people:
- 22% more likely to feel like they belong at school
- 11% more likely to feel accepted by the student body
- 8% less likely to miss days of school due to feeling unsafe