This included a group walk to support women’s rights, a fundraiser to help pupils in Nepal and a pupil-led initiative to put up inspirational posters across School.
#Walk4Women
Inclusivity Decem representatives Hattie T and Zara led pupils and staff on a walk around Doncaster Close to support the #Walk4Women campaign.
They said: “It was great to be able to organise this walk as something different that we could do to raise awareness and start a conversation in an enjoyable way that was accessible to a wide range of pupils and staff. “
“It is important to celebrate International Women’s Day, so we can recognise how far we have come in gender equality and all show support for what is still left to do so full equality in all areas can be achieved.”
“It was nice to see so many people out in the morning wearing their purple ribbons and supporting, and we hope if this continues in the future, the turnout could be even bigger.”
The #Walk4Women campaign was a larger movement with a goal to see people walk the circumference of the Earth, with each person doing a small amount to help.
Fundraising
Form 6 pupils sold sweet treats, trinkets and handmade wooden roses to raise money for their Nepal Fundraising Project. The sale celebrated the global achievements of women.
Cecilia (F6) said: “We thought that doing the fundraiser for International Women’s Day was a good opportunity as we could support women and help the Nepal teachers at the same time.”
“The bake sale we hosted went quite well and we raised around £300. In our Nepal project group, we all think it was a successful idea and we can’t wait to do another fundraiser.”
The girls in Buchanans House chose to raise awareness of International Women’s Day across the School as it’s something that is particularly special to them.
Inspirational posters
Form 4 pupil Hattie also designed and produced some inspirational posters featuring women that have made history for their activism.
These included Manal Al-Sharif, who led the #Women2Drive movement in Saudi Arabia and defied the women’s driving ban, and women’s tennis player Billie Jean King, who played an iconic match known as the “Battle of the Sexes” and won against a male counterpart.
These were put up throughout the School, helping to open up discussions about gender inequality and stereotyping.
She said: “For me, personally, International Women’s Day is very important as it’s an opportunity to celebrate the contribution of women to our society. Many of the women on my posters have created and developed new initiatives which have benefitted women and society generally whilst often being underappreciated.”
“My main aim with these posters was to share my passion for International Women’s Day with the rest of the school.”
Oakham School also interviewed STEM teachers working in Design Technology, Maths, Physics and Computer Science to explore the importance of getting young women involved in their subjects.
