Hazlehead Academy has become the first school in the City and Shire to receive a Silver Award in recognition of LGBT awareness among pupils, it was announced today (Friday 11 March).
The school was awarded LGBT Charter Silver by the charity LGBT Youth Scotland which works with 13 to 25-year-olds across the country to help ensure the best starts in life for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex young people. The charity delivers the LGBT Charter programme to schools, organisations and businesses.
A report by the charity praised the work Hazlehead Academy has been doing, highlighting how the school’s submission demonstrated how pupils were at the heart of every step of the Charter work while also putting together a motivated champions group to take meaningful actions forward.
The school was also praised for having carefully constructed policies making explicit references to LGBT people wherever necessary and for overcoming the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure continued support LGBT young people.
Aberdeen City Council’s Education Operational Delivery Convener, Councillor M Tauqeer Malik, said: “My warmest congratulations go out to the pupils and staff at Hazlehead for achieving this historic ‘first’ for a school in our area.
“Aberdeen City Council’s ambition is to make the city a place where everyone can prosper and where all our young people, regardless of background or circumstances, have the best starts in life.
“The work and achievement of Hazlehead Academy epitomises that ethos and it is a pleasure to come along today and help them celebrate their success”.
Councillor Malik paid a visit to the school and saw at first hand the mural created by pupils which commemorates the award and celebrates LGBT History Month.