What is the Yellow Flag programme?

The Yellow Flag Committee was established in our school to help us understand and celebrate how St. Brigid’s is made up of all kinds of people, people with different hopes, dreams, beliefs and ways of life.

Our hope for our committee is to celebrate all of these differences helping us to see where we can be more inclusive of everyone in our school community.

History of the Yellow Flag programme in our school.

The ‘Yellow Flag Programme’ was established in St. Brigid's in 2020. The programme celebrates diversity and inclusion in the school community. 

Some of the initiatives carried out by the active Yellow Flag Committee in our school include a Culture Day promoting the many cultures and ethnicities in our school. We also ran a school wide diversity code competition where we asked our students to lend us their voices to design a diversity code for us to live by. There was a huge response with students displaying their creative talents through exceptional pieces of artwork and eloquent pieces of writing. 

Awards ceremony for the Yellow Flag.

We were thrilled when the Irish Traveller Movement informed us that the school had a received a Yellow Flag in recognition of the work carried out to promote diversity and inclusion. St. Brigid’s is one of five schools nationally to receive this prestigious national award. A virtual ceremony took place on March 3rd which was hosted via Zoom by the RTÉ presenter Emer O’ Neill. All twenty members of the Yellow Flag committee attended and we enjoyed a wonderful celebration of our work. Daria Pokojska, a sixth-year student gave a student perspective on what the programme meant to her and Miss Hallissy spoke from a teacher’s perspective about the importance of the ‘Yellow Flag programme’ to the school community.  

Meeting

The Junior Yellow Flag committee meet on a weekly basis to plan the group’s initiatives.  

Honours

During the academic year 2021/22 the committee organised ‘Stand Up Awareness’ week. This initiative is all about taking a stand against homophobic, biphobic, transphobic bullying. It is a time where we all support the young LGBTQ+ people in our community and all over the world.

The students were involved in the organisation of a virtual awards ceremony where we celebrated our success in receiving a Yellow Flag. On March 4th, the Minister for Education Norma Foley visited the school and celebrated the students’ achievement. The national co-ordinator of the Yellow Flag programme, Molly Brady -Martin was also in attendance. The enthusiastic committee all received certificates recognising their participation. Students received a letter from the President Michael D. Higgins congratulating them on their commitment to a truly inclusive education.

In May 2022 we celebrated ‘Culture Day’. Students celebrated the different cultures within our school community. It was a day of celebration and all students visited the stands of the countries involved. Students sampled delicious traditional cuisine from around the world. They enjoyed traditional music and dancing and a stylish and elegant fashion show where students modelled traditional dress from around the world. Members of the committee had prepared PowerPoint presentations and posters to educate fellow students on key facts about their countries and cultures. It was a wonderful celebration of diversity in our school community. 

If anyone is interested in getting involved in the Yellow Flag committee here in our school, please send an email to Ms. Hallissy (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) or Ms. Horan (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)