A pupil’s perspective.
When I joined my School’s Diverse Voices Group, I was keen to raise awareness about Neurodiversity, especially the way in which it affects girls and women. Through discussions, we decided to make it a key focus of research and activity for the next few years.
In March we marked Neurodiversity Celebration Week as a way of acknowledging the many talents and strengths neurodiverse individuals have. The struggles of learning, communication and social differences are usually only thought of when discussing these conditions, and it was refreshing and empowering to send a positive message about the sometimes extraordinary strengths of neurodiverse individuals. Whether diagnosed or not, a neurodiversity is part of a person’s brain, not a problem to be ‘fixed.’ Living with neurodiversity can be difficult, impacting many areas of life negatively, but what is needed is affirmation and encouragement to enable individuals to thrive and flourish.
We made use of the excellent resources provided by NeurodiversityCelebrationWeek.com, an incredible organisation of which I became aware and shared with my peers in the Diverse Voices group. They have engaging and informative, free resources including: PowerPoints, posters of neurodiverse celebrities and subject-specific booklets for pupils and staff alike.
In addition to a poster campaign and a colourful socks and trainers day to raise awareness, I delivered a whole-school assembly and contacted academic and pastoral staff with selected resources to inform best practice in this area. One pupil reported to her PSHE teacher that the week had made her feel visible, valued and proud to be neurodiverse. It felt so worthwhile to make such a positive impact.
Alice is a Year 13 pupil at Sherborne Girls and a driving force in the School’s Diverse Voices group. She has just completed her BTEC in Creative Digital Media and has an unconditional offer from Falmouth to study Film Production. Her short film, Square Peg, has been used by the NHS to help train staff in understanding the needs of those with Autistic Spectrum Condition.
Diverse Voices at Sherborne Girls is a pupil-led DEI group open to all year groups, which meets four times per term with pupils from Sherborne Boys. The focus is on listening out for those voices in our communities which are quieter and raising awareness of those which are absent. It seeks to clarify, affirm and amplify those voices so that all feel that they belong and can be heard and be proud to be their authentic selves. This year, like the GSA, one of its core strands is neurodiversity and a longer-term research project about lived experiences of neurodiverse pupils in also underway.