As an Integrated School what we do is is underpinned by the principles of integrated education.  The four principles are Equality, Faith and Values, Parental Involvement and Social Responsibility, these, along with the five key aspects of integrated Education (being people-led, intentional about inclusion, being student centred, being aspirational and being committed to fairness) have helped us develop our Ethos and approach as a school. 

One of the core approaches we build in to all aspects of school life and learning is Anti-Bias Education. It is reflected in our values of Equality, Kindness, Inclusion and Respect. All the teachers have completed a three-day Bias Busting course through the NI Council for Integrated Education and the while staff have attended additional short-course workshops on implementing an Anti-Bias approach. 

We make sure that our resources are reflective of the current school community, because we understand the importance of representation, children need to see themselves and their families reflected within our school. Whether this is making sure we celebrate cultural and religious festivals with our families, making sure our stories and toys show families of all different sizes, shapes and colours, enhancing our home corner with culturally appropriate and reflective pots/pans/clothing/food packets/decorations or ensuring that all children can see themselves in the dolls, small world toys and stories we use.  

All children have a right to feel safe, valued, seen, accepted and treasured in their school. Our anti-bias approach means we don't shy away from difficult conversations.  Three and four year olds have lots of questions and our job is to help them make sense of the world around them, this will naturally lead to us addressing issues that may be seen as contentious - such as race, religion, disability and gender stereotypes, in a gentle and age appropriate way.  If you have questions about what we do, why we do it or how we encourage anti-bias thinking in the the children and school community please speak to your child's teacher or the principal, Miss Algie.

We are on a journey and we won't always get it right. If you think we can do better in an area of how we address these issues or you can support us please let us know by speaking to Miss Algie.

Equally if you have something you would like us to include to better represent your family in our school please get in touch with your child's teacher, we would be happy to partner with you to make our school more reflective of the diversity of our community.