Celebrating Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

International Women's Day, March 2025

On Tuesday, 11th March, we proudly hosted our third #LetGirlsPlay football tournament, in celebration of International Women’s Day. The tournament, saw ten schools in total, come together to celebrate football in an atmosphere of competition, teamwork, and fun.

Our girls displayed incredible skill, determination, and sportsmanship throughout the day. From the first whistle to the final goal, every player gave their all, demonstrating just how far girls’ football has come and why opportunities like this are so important. The tournament was a fantastic showcase of talent.

A huge thank you to all the students and teachers who made the event such a success. A special thank you to Miss Joel from Thurrock School Sport and David Lewis from Masterclass Sports Tours for helping run the event.

We look forward to more opportunities to promote and support girls’ football in the future – because when given the chance, girls can achieve anything on and off the pitch!

Well done to everyone involved for such an amazing event. The results from the day are as follows:

Year 7		Year 8/9
1st	Harris Academy Falconwood	Grays Convent High School
2nd	Williams Edwards School	Harris Academy Rainham
3rd	Harris Academy Ockendon	Orsett Heath Academy

LGBT+ History Month, February 2025

The month of February saw LGBT+ History month, and the theme for 2025 was Activism and Social Change.  

LGBT+ History Month began in 2005 and has been a fantastic opportunity to highlight the incredible things LBGT+ people have achieved throughout history in all areas of life.  For 2025, to reflect the theme of activism and social change, the focus is on how LGBT+ people have helped shape and create social change.

At HAOC we used the month as an opportunity to further deliver on our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) strategy and create a sense of belonging for all.  An example of some of the activities that took place is shown below.

• Students received an assembly around the theme of ‘Activism and Social Change’
• Podcasts were recorded by students, supported by members of our HAOC Pride Club
• During tutor time, students discussed some inspirational figures, present day and from history, that have had an impact on social change
• During History lessons, students received a bespoke lesson focusing on historical figures who have progressed change in a number of areas including women’s rights, the environment, housing, nuclear disarmament, abolition of the slave trade, preserving heritage, amongst other things.  To find out more about them please click HERE and scroll down to ‘historical figures’.
• A range of music by LGBT+ artists was played at student entrance in the mornings throughout February whilst students arrived
• Information was displayed on screens around the Academy about events in the community, organisations and charities that support the LGBT+ community
• An LGBT+ recommended reading list was compiled by the Librarian and literacy team and is available on our website by clicking HERE.
• Our Pride Club continued to run every week for all students

Black History Month, October 2024

October saw the return of Black History Month and as an Academy, we were excited to celebrate, not only Black History, but cultural heritage and contributions to society from the black community.  

The theme for 2024 was Reclaiming Narratives, which aims to shine a brighter light on stories, allegories, and history. This theme underscores a commitment to correcting historical inaccuracies, showcasing the untold success stories and the full complexity of black heritage.

What did we do to celebrate Black History Month 2024?     

• Assembly – Staff and students delivered assemblies to all year groups
• Black Entrepreneur Marketplace – Students in Yrs 10, 12 and 13 experienced a carousel of careers advice with several local business owners offering their mentorship
• Music workshops – These were held in school and included African drums and Samba
• Culture club – A club that celebrates diversity with activities and talks based around any culture with a black origin
• Motivational Speaker – Students were treated to a motivational speech by Bernadette Thompson OBE, an Associate Director of Inclusion for the Kings College Hospital NHS Trust, and appointed OBE for Services to Diversity and Inclusion. 

If you would like to read more about Bernadette, please click HERE.

 

 

 

 

 

• Competitions - Students were invited to write a book review or poem relating to black authors, with the winning prizes being displayed in the library and school website
• Recipes – Staff and students were encouraged to try traditional recipes that reflect black culture, please follow these links to try them for yourselves… African and Caribbean Recipes  Coming together through food
• Culture Day – Staff and students of all cultures were encouraged to wear something to school, which showcased their cultural heritage and traditions. Below are some examples…

Pride Month, June 2024

We were excited once again to be marking PRIDE 2024 during June.  This is what we got up to…

• Students received an assembly lead by students from our Pride Club on LGBT+ and what it means to be part of this community
• Pride club continued each Wednesday lunchtime for members of the LGBT+ community and their allies to attend
• Activities focusing on LGBT+ took place during lessons 
• Music by LGBT+ artists was played at student entrance on arrival in the mornings
• LGBT+ flags were on display around the school
• Quotes from famous people from the LGBT+ community were on display in the glass corridor
• Promotion of the LGBT+ reading library list & challenge
• Rainbow muffins and cake were available from the canteen
• Students re-created the Human Pride Flag...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Culture Day, June 2024

Following the fantastic feedback from previous events, we held another Culture Day on Thursday 27^th June, where students and staff were able to attend school wearing traditional or formal dress that celebrates their culture.  During the day those taking part were also invited to attend a cultural dress display on the field.  This was a fantastic opportunity to come together, embrace our diverse backgrounds, and create a vibrant and inclusive environment.

International Women's Day, March 2024

We were thrilled once again to be involved in the Let Girls Play campaign on Friday 8^th March, to coincide with International Women’s Day.  The event saw a record-breaking 465,000 girls from 5000 schools compete in events up and down the country as part of the FA and Barclays’ third Biggest Ever Football Session, highlighting the ever-growing demand for girls to play football. 

At HAOC we hosted over 140 students across 9 different schools in a fantastic day of competition, team spirit and friendship. A special thank you to the Hashtag United FC Women players Emma Samways and Hayley West for attending our event and helping us celebrate such a wonderful day.

The results of the HAOC competition are as follows:

Year 7 and 8		Year 9 and 10
1st Place	Grays’ Convent High School	1st Place	Harris Academy Rainham
2nd Place	Harris Academy Falconwood	2nd Place	Harris Academy Riverside
3rd Place	Beauchamps High School	3rd Place	Harris Academy Falconwood

 LGBT+ History Month, February 2024

The theme of the 2024 LGBT+ History Month was Medicine – #UnderTheScope.  Following positive feedback from HAOC’s Pride Club, many of the activities from last year made a welcome return, but we were also excited to take on board some of their new ideas to expand our events. 

This was an important opportunity to deliver on our EDI strategy and create a sense of belonging for all. An example of those activities on offer are shown below;

• Assembly – Delivered to all students around the theme of ‘#Under the Scope’
• Mini videos and podcasts – members of our HAOC Pride Club supported students with recording presentations
• Tutor Time Activity – in tutor time, students discussed some inspirational figures, present day and from history that have had an impact on medicine
• Activities in Science and History – students received a bespoke lesson in science and history during the month of February regarding historical and scientific figures who have had an impact on science
• Music –A range of music by LGBT+ artists played at student entrance in the mornings throughout February whilst students arrive
• Information on screens around the Academy for all students to read about events in the community, organisations and charities that support the LGBT+ community
• An LGBT+ recommended reading list was compiled by the Librarian and literacy team
• Pin Badges were sold to students
• Our Pride Club continued to run every week for all students where they created their own rainbow flag…

Celebration Evening, December 2023

In December we stepped into a realm of pride and celebration as we gathered to honour the remarkable achievements of our students at our 'Celebration Evening'.

From academic excellence to outstanding contributions in sports, arts, and the community, our students showed that they have truly excelled.

We are immensely proud of their perseverance, dedication, and passion that have led them to this well-deserved moment of recognition.

Below we have captured just a few of these special awards…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black History Month, October 2023

The theme of Black History Month 2023 was ‘Dig deeper, Look closer, Think bigger’, with an additional focus on 'Saluting our Sisters', with the aim of shining a spotlight on the contributions of black females from the past to the present day.

As such, both themes were explored in assemblies and a number of events taking place throughout October, including;

• Dance and drumming workshops: all students in KS3 experienced either an African Dance or African Drumming workshop
• Assemblies: students and staff delivered themed assemblies to students
• Art Exhibition: Student art works were displayed at student entrance
• Chef: we were lucky to have a chef come into school to cook a traditional dish to be served at lunch time with some of our sixth form students
• Black entrepreneur marketplace: students in Yr 10, 12 & 13 experienced a carousel of careers advice, with several local business owners offering their mentorship
• Cooking masterclasses: a number of our teachers of African and Caribbean heritage shared some of their favourite cultural dishes
• Poetry and Book competitions: all students were invited to take part in our Poetry, and Book Review Competitions of celebrated black author
• Culture clubs: our teachers ran Culture Clubs where students learnt and shared in the cultures of their teachers and peers
• Motivational speaker: We were thrilled to welcome Lorraine Wright MBE, to HAOC to speak with students (https://champions-speakers.co.uk/speaker-agent/lorraine-wright)

African Drumming Workshop

 

 

 

Art Exhibition at Student Entrance

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Languages Week, September 2023

At HAOC, we have a culture of embodying diversity, kindness, and curiosity, we have always known that our students are our biggest assets, whose every language and every background deserves to be celebrated.

Inspired by the European Day of Languages and UNESCO's International Mother Language Day, HAOC organised its very own Languages Week during September 2023.

Celebrations included:

• A Languages Week assembly during form time, celebrating HAOC's cultural diversity and showing how multilingualism can benefit students both physically and socially
• Staff and students filled in and displayed posters explaining why speaking multiple languages was important to them personally
• International music played every morning at the student entrance
• 'Around the World' themed food was provided in the canteen, with a different type of cuisine available each day
• World flags were displayed around the school
• Our top linguists and multilingual students were celebrated via the school's display screens
• Online and digital resources were created and shared among students to promote and encourage language learning (e.g.: Duolingo classroom; Chrome Web Extension for Netflix and Youtube)
• An after-school cinema event where all year groups were invited to watch a non-English film in the main hall

Culture Day, July 2023

We were delighted to hold the second of our Culture days on 6^th July, to celebrate diversity, promote cultural understanding, and commemorate Eid-ul-Adha, Windrush Day and Refugee week.

What did we do?

• Students and staff wore traditional attire and displayed flags representing their cultural background
• In form time and lessons, discussions took place about the importance of cultural diversity and the historical and religious contexts of Windrush, Eid and Refugee week
• We held a cultural dress display during lunch breaks
• Students attended assemblies on Windrush, Eid and refugee week

This was a fantastic opportunity for our whole school community to come together, and celebrate our diverse backgrounds.

Pride, June 2023

Pride month is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honour the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan.

At HAOC we celebrated PRIDE by…

• Delivering an assembly on the history of the LGBTQ+ community and what it means to be part of it
• Continuing our student PRIDE club on Monday KS3 lunch and Tuesday KS4 lunch, for members of the LGBTQ+ community and allies   
• Designing lessons that are LGBTQ+ inclusive   
• The student EDI team created posters which were put up around the school   
• The LGBTQ+ student team sold progress flag badges  
• The EDI team created a music playlist which was played at student entrance in the mornings   
• Flags were put up down main corridors   
• Students wearing different coloured t-shirts gathered on the school field to create a Human Pride Flag

International Women's Day, March 2023

Harris Academy Ockendon were proud to host our first ever girls football tournament on Wednesday 22^nd March 2023. 

We worked in partnership with the Kinetic Foundation, in celebration of International Women's Day and the FA's “#LetGirlsPlay” campaign with the aim of getting as many girls playing football in one day as possible!

Eight other local schools joined the tournament from across the Harris Federation and Borough with over 160 girls taking part in the event! All girls involved played exceptionally well and the standard of football throughout the day was amazing to see.

All the semi-finals finished 0-0 and ended up going to penalty shoot outs. This meant the day ended with a close final for both year group pools! Congratulations to the overall medal winners...

Year 7/8			Year 9/10
1st	William Edwards		1st	Harris Falconwood
2nd	Harris Chafford Hundred		2nd	William Edwards
3rd	Harris Riverside		3rd	Harris Bromley

Our home team played really well against some tough opposition, finishing 4^th in the year 7/8 pool and 5^th in the year 9/10 pool.

We are very much looking forward to hosting the event again next year!

Black History Month, October 2022

The 2022 theme was 'Time for change, Action not words', which was explored in school during October.    The following is an outline of some of the activities we ran during the month. 

• Assembly - Students delivered parts of their year group assemblies to other year groups
• Mini videos – Students participated in a short video, to tell us about their background, sharing how their culture is celebrated and what Black History Month means to them.  
• Culture Day - Staff of black ethnic origin, were invited to wear something to school, which showcased their cultural heritage and traditions. Students were also invited to participate.   
• Cultural evening of celebration - The sixth form team with student Principals, and other members of student parliament organised a cultural evening of celebration. This included a number of acts showcasing, music, dance, drama, readings and many more. The evening was open to staff and students; we were also able to serve some cuisine of black culture during the evening too.  
• Music and/or dance workshops – These were held throughout the two weeks. All students encountered one workshop. KS3 students experienced an African dance workshop and KS4 & 5 students experienced an African drumming workshop.
• Culture club – We ran a ‘Culture Club’ which celebrated diversity. Included were a range of activities and talks based around cultures with a black origin.
• Form Time Activity – in form students  had time to share stories about who their inspirational figures are, these were collected, and displayed in the school.  
• A movie night - we screened 'The Help' for students in the Main Hall after school. This was open to all students and staff.  
• Cuisine of black cultural food was served in the canteen   
• Art exhibition - celebrating our own students' work 
• Music - played at student entrance during the mornings in October whilst students arrived
• Inspirational posters, enquiry questions and activities in lessons, which were displayed in classrooms and student entrance so all students could see the inspirational figures selected. 

Cuisine from other cultures

As part of Black History Month, we would like to encourage families to try dishes from other cultures.   

Jollof rice is a rice dish from West Africa. The dish is typically made with long-grain rice, tomatoes, onions, spices, vegetables, and meat in a single pot, although its ingredients and preparation methods vary across different regions. 

Why not try one of the recipes below at home: 

Ghana Jollof rice 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUqm9g1WNlI 

Nigeria Jollof rice 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4tNAyRdo70 

Senegal Jollof rice 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJFLTJ-NDyc 

Black History Month, October 2021

Each year in October we mark Black History Month, which provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and honour the accomplishments of Black Britons in every area of endeavour throughout British history.

At Harris Academy Ockendon we are proud to be able to reflect on these achievements throughout a range of activities and assemblies during the month.

Here, students explored the theme of ‘Proud to be’, during assemblies, and created some fantastic pieces of art which were exhibited at our main student entrance.

Staff were also actively involved by each selecting a powerful and inspirational black figure who made a significant impact politically, socially, or culturally, either here in Britain or around the globe, and designing a poster to display in their classroom to encourage curiosity and engagement.

The activities that take place during Black History Month open up some interesting and varied discussions between students and staff, and allow us to explore further, the impact some of our inspirational black figures made to British and global history.