Renewing Our Yellow Flag

Mura gcuirfidh tú san earrach ní bhainfidh tú san fhómhar – If you do not sow in the spring, you will not reap in the autumn (Irish Proverb)

Ideally, every three years schools will renew for their Yellow Flag status. – this shows us and everyone else that you are still working as an intercultural school. In a highly complex world, where national and global social justice issues affect the ever-changing diversity of our school communities, it is vital schools are ready to engage with topics and discussions that relate to human rights, racism, diversity and inclusion.

How do we get started on our renewal programme?

Reflect on your previous work under the 8 step programme: Do teachers, students and parents still know about the programme? Is it still a living programme in your school with an active youth-led Diversity Committee? What did you last achieve under your Action Plan and what relationships did you create with the school and local community? Does the broad school community still have a sense of the Yellow Flag Programme in your school. Carry out the 4 actions, together with a small, community project to deepen the engagement with the school community.

Like the first-time round, you should keep records of the work you do. You can do this by setting up a new online folder showing your work under each action as this will need to be sent to the Yellow Flag renewal programme when it is time for your review.

If your school has kept the spirit of the flag alive, the renewal process should be quite straight-forward. To successfully renew the flag, a school needs to complete just four actions that were part of the eight steps from the original framework:

1. Re-energise the Diversity Committee
   If the committee is no longer in place, recruit new members, and redefine the working structure and goals for the group. To ensure that your school is up-to-date on local issues and dynamics, we really encourage you to involve a local community representative on the committee. This could be a representative from a local Traveller or migrant project, or even a community worker from your local authority. The Yellow Flag renewal development worker will support you to build relationships here if they are no longer active since you last achieved the Yellow Flag
2. Complete a mandatory Introduction to Intercultural Awareness CPD
   Anti-racism is a continuous learning journey. For that reason, and because of inevitable staff changeover, we ask renewal schools to complete our Introduction to Intercultural Awareness CPD. This is an opportunity to refresh all school staff on key concepts around racism and discrimination, and to remind teachers of the practical skills that foster inclusion in the classroom.
3. Update the Action Plan to include a small, local community project 
   Priorities and challenges are likely to have changed since schools last iteration of the programme, and if the actions initially implemented were successful, this is a great chance to look at new areas for improvement. As part of deepening the engagement we ask Renewal schools to complete a small, local community project as part of their action planning to foster community relationships and align their renewal action plan with similar local community projects/actions that mirror the same focus on inclusion and anti-racism work in their local community
4. Diversity Code & Policy Review – Do you have an active Inclusion and Anti-Racism Policy?
   As part of your first Yellow Flag achievement, your school was required to create a robust policy that addressed issues of inclusion and racism for your school community. *Please note: An anti-bullying policy is not regarded as sufficient to address issues of inclusion and racism in schools. Action 4 requires schools to conduct a review of existing policies to ensure that they continue to address any challenges faced in school life, verify that the language and content is still relevant. The creation of an anti-racism policy should be a living document, implemented as part of the ethos of the school, and accessible to all parents/guardians, teachers and students.

Once you have carried our all 4 actions you will have an opportunity to review in May, June or October of the following year i.e. If you begin your renewal programme in September 2024, you will be eligible to review in May 2024 once all actions have been completed. A renewal visit is scheduled with your school and a member from the Yellow Flag Review team – this will follow the similar lines as the original 8 step review.  The visit will last for around 1.5 hours and will be a chance for you to showcase your good work in relation to interculturalism, commitment to equality and addressing racism and discrimination.

When will we know we have achieved our Yellow Flag status once again?

The review team will evaluate the school on the day, based on your achievements set out under each of the four actions and a presentation of your small, local community project. You will receive a summary report of our review visit detailing if you achieved your Yellow Flag status. We will also let you know if there are any recommendations for your to consider during your next academic term.

Find out more

• The 4 Steps to Renew your flag
• School Renewal Assessment Form