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Hello, and welcome to our latest online community event to mark this year’s International Women’s Day. As promised, we are continuing to showcase these events, resources and stories of support and inspiration as part of our community outreach work. We are privileged to be able to connect with you at home in the wider community in this way. Care in the community is at the very heart of the ethos of Edmund Rice College. We hope this event provides something positive to take away and at the very least, some words of inspiration to brighten your day.
This year’s theme is #BreaktheBias and our event has been launched by Koulla Yiasouma, Children’s Commissioner for NI, with a very important message on this theme for our young people and community. Be sure to check out the launch video here on the Home Page.
We have some wonderful contributions to share with you as part of this event which you can access via the links found on the Home Page:
We have a very special feature on the “The Girls of ERC” – focusing attention on our current Year 12 cohort of girls, who made history in September 2017 as the first ever Year 8 girls to #BreaktheBias and attend Edmund Rice College. This was a small group of 25 girls in a male dominated year group of 120 pupils in total, and a previously all boys school. The girls have come together to share a bit about themselves with our community and we are delighted to pay tribute to them – in particular some lovely tributes have been paid by their Form Teachers and Head of Year as part of this event.
We have also shared some #BreaktheBias tributes to our girls of ERC, including our first all-girls soccer team, first female PE teacher and first females on the ERC leadership team.
We are delighted to feature our Shared Education partners, Hazelwood College in our showcase today with a brilliant feature on their all-female leadership team, as well as a lovely contribution from Eimear Rafferty, their on-site school social worker who has recently started supporting our own students here at ERC.
There is a feature on the WomenEd NI community, which I myself am very blessed to be a small part of. This is a community of wonderful women and also some really great #He4She male allies – who connect, support and empower aspiring and existing women leaders and give them a voice in education. Support is provided right throughout the year with a mission to encourage members to become "10% Braver" in their education and leadership journeys. The community comes together twice a year at what is always an uplifting and empowering “unconference”. I am delighted to include contributions from one of the founding members; Mary Lowery, who talks to us about her own personal journey to leadership and how she was inspired by strong role models within her own family. A story that will undoubtedly inspire others. Nichola Lynagh, member of WomenEd NI, has also sent us in a wonderful personal blog on her journey; a courageous story of facing adversity and change of career. Nichola is also huge advocate for spreading joy with random acts of kindness - which is something we can never have too much of! Chris Reddy of brightleaders.co.uk and male ally of WomenEd NI has also sent us in a very uplifting and inspirational message which calls for us to question our unconscious bias. These are incredibly powerful and moving contributions – please be sure to check them out. WomenEd NI can be found on Twitter @WomenEdNI where you will find out more about what they do, and their future unconference get togethers. I highly recommend!!
We have included a feature on Sinead Molloy - the founder of She Built It NI - whose vision is to #BreaktheBias and encourage more women in to the male dominated construction industry. Check out her story and amazing website.
Finally, there is a special feature on Women in Handball – showcasing a really fantastic event run by GAA Handball Ireland – the “She’s Ace” handball tournament, which I myself took part in at the start of 2022. It’s a fantastic sport and one that’s never too late to take up! Make sure to check out the information on Handball and encourage any girls (and boys!) you think might like to try it out. We have some fantastic handball facilities at ERC and are host to Naomh Éanna handball club each Tuesday night as part of their juvenile development. We also have adult social handball running on Thursday evenings. There is a whole revival in fact, right across Antrim and beyond with plenty of opportunities to get involved in the sport. If you are interested in taking part, get in touch with me at the school and I will give you all the details you need.
There is a lot of inspiration on display here and it will be time well spent browsing through the content. There is also a link to last year's event in case you missed it. Thank you so much for stopping by today and we hope you enjoy the showcase. You can support us by sharing our social media posts, and the link to this event with friends and family.
Happy International Women’s Day!
“Here’s to Strong women:
May we know them.
May we be them.
May we raise them”
Colette Deery
Head of ERC Community
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