We live in a time of great social change – a fact which many greet with enthusiasm and some with uncertainty. It is a time of greater awareness and conversation around the need for increased diversity, equity and compassionate inclusion to ensure social structures and attitudes reflect our evolving society, and a symphony of voices and experiences shape our stories and culture.
At Ardingly, this is an essential conversation, but not a new one: our founding ethos is one of social responsibility; we have a range of thought-provoking student-led EDI societies; our diverse and multicultural student body shapes our initiatives; many staff members actively engage with concepts of social justice and equity which informs our nuanced discussions.
Our EDI programme is carefully designed to reflect our context. It works in conjunction with our PSHE and our Social Education curriculum and is an important part of the Society & Me component of World Ready. As always, there is more to do, but the will to make positive change is inspiring and we have already made great progress.
EDI Initiatives at Ardindly
EDI House Reps
EDI House Reps are student leaders and ambassadors. They will act as ‘a listening ear’ and an advocate for EDI matters in their House, bringing suggestions to EDI meetings before helping to design and implement solutions that will aim to make Ardingly a more inclusive place for all.
Each House has an EDI Representative who acts as the conduit between our EDI Department and students in their House to share information, help organise fundraising events and lead other awareness-raising initiatives.
Celebrating Diversity & Belonging
Each year the EDI Department runs a series of thought-provoking and immersive events to celebrate diversity, encourage inclusion and engage students and staff with EDI matters, including International Women’s Day, Cultural Diversity, Black History Month, Neurodiversity. Our overarching aim is to celebrate these national events or sensitive topics in a compassionate, intellectually curious and reflective way which relates to the curriculum (involving as many different subject departments as possible); involves student voice and harnesses students’ enthusiasm; as well as broadening our students’ horizons by welcoming inspirational guest speakers with diverse perspectives.
Student Societies
We encourage our senior students to lead and organise societies, which not only teaches them valuable life and leadership skills, but also ensures that our students have an important voice in shaping our EDI programme. Active student-led societies currently include the EDI Society, New Era (our Feminist Society), Ubuntu and the LGBTQIA+ Society.
Female Lead Ambassadors
Ardingly has been selected by @the_female_lead, an organisation that advocates for strong female role models, as one of their first ambassador schools the UK. Our Female Lead Ambassadors attend events with peers from other schools and organise initiatives to highlight the importance of gender equality at the College.