Pride society statement
Clifton College is committed to celebrating differences and diversity.
Clifton College understands how important it is for LGBTQ+ students to see their community accepted and celebrated in their lessons, physical surroundings and in the policy decisions being made behind the scenes. The school aims to create an environment that is welcoming, inclusive and visibly supportive of our LGBTQ+ students and staff. Since the creation of the first Clifton College Pride group, students have commented that they feel increasingly nurtured and respected in the school.
At Clifton College we have two complementary Pride groups; Pride Society and Pride Action. Students are welcome to attend either or both depending on their own preferences. The Pride groups are open to all Upper School students; members of the LGBTQIA+ community and cisgender, heterosexual allies.
Pride Society
Pride Society has been running for five years, and meets each Thursday at 6pm in the Percival Library to discuss issues of gender and sexuality, alongside wider areas of diversity. We have hosted a wide range of guest speakers, from bestselling author Juno Dawson to Dr Carole Buckley, Clinical Champion for Autism and Science Communicator Antonia Forster who gave an excellent talk on Gender and Sexuality in the Animal Kingdom. The activities, events and speakers are organised to meet the needs and desires of the current cohort, which means we’ve organised trips to Forbidden Planet and engaged in epic Dungeons and Dragons quests as well as film nights, tie-dye sessions and She-Raathons. We also provide excellent snacking opportunities.
Pride Action Group
Pride Action Group is the Pride Society’s baby sibling, being newly established in Lent Term 2022. Pride Action meets every two weeks in ML14 and has a focus on activism and change both within the school and in the wider community. Pride Action meets alongside the EDIB Committee, allowing opportunities for integration and collaboration between the two groups. Like Pride Society, Pride Action is very much driven by the ideas and needs of its members, meaning that the changes we hope to make will be relevant and meaningful for our students.
Pride Society Initiatives
The Pronoun Project
The Pronoun Project was created to educate members of the staff body in the use of trans and nonbinary pronouns. It aimed to equip them with the knowledge and confidence to use a variety of pronouns and, as Pronoun Champions, pass their learning to colleagues and students alike.
To date, this training programme has been run twice, with around 35 staff members in each cohort. Ahead of the session, trainee Champions are asked to read the marvellous (and very short) comic A Quick and Easy Guide to They/Them Pronouns.
The training itself is student-led, with members of the Pride Society introducing themselves using their pronouns and explaining how the use of a person’s correct pronouns is essential to their wellbeing – to actively misgender a person is an act of hostility. Pride Society students understand that mistakes can be made, and they taught staff how to deal with these situations in a sensitive manner.
During Pride Week, and on International Pronoun Day, the Pronoun Champions wore badges reading ‘Ask me about my pronouns’. They were encouraged to start lessons or meetings by introducing themselves using their pronouns, as the students had done in the training (this is how we start Pride sessions, usually adding a fun fact such as each members’ favourite ice cream flavour, which animal they would choose as a sidekick, or the Hogwarts House they belong to). We also made badges in a variety of pronouns for other students and staff members to wear, should they wish.
The aim of the programme was to usualise the use of alternative pronouns and increase confidence in their use by members of the school community.
Feedback from the Pronoun Champions was overwhelmingly positive and the programme means a great deal to the ever increasing number of students at the school who use non-binary pronouns, helping them to feel safe and supported in their day-to-day lives at school.
Clifton College Pride Week
Pride week takes place in June every year. Alongside the second round of Pronoun Project training, here are some of the other initiatives that took place during 2021’s Clifton College Pride Week:
Rainbow badges were handed out to teaching staff and students and Rainbow Laces were sold by the charities committee. All students were encouraged to wear them in their school shoes and/or sports footwear as a show of support for the LGBTQ+ Community. All proceeds went to local youth charity Off the Record, the parent charity of Freedom Youth, a Bristol based LGBTQ+ support group who have run sessions for our students and training for our staff.
Though the Pride flag had flown joyfully from the top of the Wilson Tower for two years previously, in 2021 the school invested in a new Progress Pride flag which includes black and brown stripes to represent LGBTQ+ communities of colour, along with the colours pink, light blue and white, which are used on the Transgender Flag. Since it was designed in 2018, the Progress Flag has become increasingly prevalent as a way to demonstrate support for two of the most marginalised LGBTQ+ groups.
Pride Society Leaders created a series of subject specific posters celebrating the achievements of key players in the LGBTQ+ community which were on display throughout the school campus.
A Pride Flag Trail around the school grounds led students on a hunt for ten different LGBTQ+ flags. If they located and scanned the QR codes of at least five flags, they won delicious prizes which increased in size the more they scanned.
The school’s catering team created a fabulous rainbow feast for Pride Day complete with the most delectable rainbow iced cupcakes!
Members of the Clifton College Pride Society took to the chapel pulpit to talk about the differences between sex, gender and sexuality, as well as the potential impact of (mis)understanding these terms.
And at the end of the busy week, Pride students and their friends were invited for a Pride Picnic on the Close.
Inter-school Pride Activities
In 2019, Clifton College welcomed Pride groups from eight local schools to an event with the Award winning writer and Activist Juno Dawson. Recently the College’s Pride Leaders facilitated the creation of an Inter-School Pride Group for members of the Bristol Education Partnership. It is hoped that Summer 2022’s BEP Pride event with Bristol City Poet Caleb Parkin, will be the first of many opportunities for collaboration between Clifton College and the wider BEP Pride community.
If you have questions about either group, contact Ms Walker at pride@www.cliftoncollege.com.
Lauren Walker
Pronouns: She, Her
Pride Coordinator
EDIB Committee Representative
Head Percival Librarian
