Ravensthorpe school celebrates International Women’s Day with annual support event

Diamond Wood Community Academy, on North Road, invited parents and family into the school on Friday, March 3 where they were greeted by personnel from over 40 agencies who provided information about the support which is on offer within the local community.

On another successful event - which was organised by the school’s safeguarding and well-being officer Mandy Farrar - headteacher Sally Titherington said:

“It was just a huge success. We had probably over 200 parents who attended and it is something we have been running annually for seven years now. It is very much about promoting not just women, but everyone across school. It’s also about aspirations and what you can become.

“We have a lot of support in Ravensthorpe and Kirklees for our parents and families and our hall was filled with different stalls like the police, domestic violence and cancer support. Each stall had their own people there for people to speak to and leaflets were handed out. So if there is a parent who is struggling with something, or needs that support, they can come and get that. Our staff were there as well.

“It’s about promoting what’s on offer and making sure families know that there is a lot of care and help within the community for them. It’s also about making sure women in the community realise there are opportunities for them - like courses they can go on.

“It promotes identity, culture and diversity. When you looked in the hall on Friday you thought, ‘wow, we’re really celebrating that.’

“The Mayor of Kirklees, Masood Ahmed, opened it for us this year and he did a speech about women, aspirations and being who you want to be. Our choir also performed and one of our Year 2 girls read a poem called ‘Because you’re beautiful,’ which was really emotional.

“Even if just one person gained some support, or picked up a leaflet where they can say, ‘right I can get out of this situation,’ then it has done its job.”