The Thomas Alleyne Academy

Achieving excellence through personal growth

Diversity & Inclusion

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Thomas Alleyne Academy

At Thomas Alleyne Academy, we are proud of our strong and ongoing commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). We believe these values are essential not only for building a fairer society, but also for helping our students develop confidence in their own identities and respect for others.

Our work has been nationally recognised with the Equalities Silver Award from EqualiTeach, reflecting our dedication to creating a school environment where every individual is valued, included, and supported to thrive.

A dedicated EDI staff group helps to ensure that all voices in our school are represented fairly. This team plays a key role in shaping inclusive policies and organising events throughout the year that celebrate our diverse community.

One of our most successful initiatives is our annual Culture Day—a vibrant celebration of the many cultures within our school. Students and staff share food, music, and traditional clothing, proudly showcasing their heritage. Other events in our calendar include Black History Month, Pride Month, World Hijab Day, Yom Kippur, and many more.

We actively involve students in shaping our EDI work through the Student Council, and we’re always seeking new ways to further promote inclusivity and belonging. Our school community mirrors the rich diversity of the wider community, and we are committed to fostering a culture of respect, empathy and pride in who we are.

Mr Cox
EDI Lead

Diversity Working Group

The Diversity Working Group at the school was established in July 2022, led by the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Lead, Matt Cox. The group has been set up to discuss issues relating to diversity and inclusion across the school, with the aim of providing support and resources to colleagues, students and families, as well as planning celebration events throughout the year.

The Diversity Working Group is made up of staff volunteers with particular specialisms and areas of interest, with a view to ensuring all areas of diversity have a voice at the school. Each staff member seeks to represent minority groups in the school, advocating for them and proposing supportive measures the school can implement.

The Group meets each half term to discuss upcoming events and opportunities for awareness and celebrations. Key successes of the group so far have been the planning and delivery of materials and events for Black History Month, tackling misogyny and the Incel movement, and collaborating on the creation of the school’s first policy for supporting transgender students. We hope that the Diversity Working Group will have a significant impact in representing and celebrating all areas of our school community, especially those of minoritised groups.

The current members of the Diversity Working Group are:

  • Matt Cox (EDI Lead) – Race equity focus
  • Nurul Islam (Head of Year 9) – Race equity focus
  • Katie Bailey (Assistant Head Teacher) – LGBTQ+ focus
  • Jade Tomlins (Science Teacher) – LGBTQ+ focus
  • Susan Kenneally (School Counsellor) – Mental Health focus
  • Devon Woolley (Assistant Head Teacher, Safeguarding Lead) – Mental Health focus
  • Anna Skotnicka (R.E. Teacher) – Religion focus

Minutes of Meetings

News and Events

LGBT and Pride at TAA

This year marks the third academic year of Rainbow Group – TAA’s LGBTQ+ club that encourages community and understanding. It’s been a busy time for us at the school as we gear up to celebrate Pride month. You’ll notice we have our assemblies, our enrichment program after school and a form time activity dedicated to spreading more awareness. We feel all this shows a determination to providing our students with the best resources possible to develop into empathetic adults who have the courage to be themselves and stand up to discrimination.

Staff at TAA are dedicated to enhancing student experience and have made use of training resources offered to us by Mermaids UK, a charity run to help trans individuals. Beyond that, we’ve ordered in LGBTQ+ books that are available on request through myself, we have also compiled a reading list for students to enjoy.

We wish everyone a happy Pride and look forward to developing our inclusive curriculum for all our students!

Miss Tomlins

Rainbow Group

Starting officially four years ago, the Rainbow Group has aspired to be a welcoming and community based extra-curricular at Thomas Alleyne Academy. The initial idea for the group came from the student’s themselves as they wanted a place where they could explore their identities and come together with like-minded friends.

As time went on, the group grew and has seen many initiatives in its short run time. We’ve had group reading sessions based on popular LGBT+ authors and inspired members to become more involved with literature in the community. The group has formed a good working relationship with Next Page Books in Hitchin where our inclusive books come from and our members have greatly enjoyed building their own collections with prizes sourced from the store. On top of this we’ve had visits from the local council signposting local resources, taken part in national competitions and invited some of our old students back in to see how our group has progressed.

In the third year of running we’ve paired up with the GSA and The Proud Trust to deliver an even better experience this year around. 2023 marked the first year of celebrating LGBT+ History Month at TAA as well as Pride month. These months have been a special time for our students to really get creative and show the courage to take pride in their own achievements. In the works is a collaboration with some of our fellow schools around Stevenage during Pride month, including taking part in smaller events around our local area, and our group being part of the work the school is doing towards Equality assurance.

Each year we run the group goes from strength to strength and we look forward to all the opportunities of the future.

Academic Life