Three Kildare school gain LGBTQ+ accreditation

Last month three Kildare schools receive the BelongTo LGBTQ+ Quality Mark recognising their work over an 18-month period to foster LGBTQ+ wellbeing and inclusion for their students.

The three schools receiving the award are Naas CBS Secondary School, Maynooth Post Primary School, and Ardscoil Rath Iomgháin, in Rathangan, representing over 2,700 students in Kildare.

The schools were presented with their awards at an event in the Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin which was attended by over 350 staff and student representatives, including those from Kildare and hosted by social media influencer and TV presenter James Kavanagh. In total, 44 schools were presented with their LGBTQ+ Quality Mark on the day, representing 17 counties and 26,000 post primary school students across the country. 

The accreditation initiative was developed by BelongTo in 2022. That year, the School Climate Survey by Columbia University revealed that 76 per cent of LGBTQ+ young people in Kildare and across Ireland do not feel safe in post-primary schools. 

Since the pilot programme, over 100 schools and Youthreach centres have embarked on the LGBTQ+ Quality Mark journey to improve the lives and experiences of their LGBTQ+ students.