Dear Parents and Carers,

I am writing to follow up with regards to the wonderful week of discussions and celebrations our students and staff engaged in last week to mark International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia and Transphobia IDAHOBIT Day.

Please see attached some photographs of the week’s events, which commenced with Cr Daniel Moloney (Mayor, City of Ballarat) hosting our Rainbow and Ally flag raising ceremony. It was heartening to hear him acknowledge that Ballarat High School “is leading the way” to create a supportive, respectful, and inclusive environment for the LGBTQIA+ members of our school community.

Our students and staff were also privileged to hear the lived experience of a young member of the LGBTQIA+ community – “Tessa” from Minus18. This activity spurred a great deal of conversation and reflection regarding being allies to our LGBTQIA+ community, and promoting empathy, kindness, safety, and acceptance of the rich diversity within our school and the broader community.

Our students were also invited to write an Ally Pledge and it is impressive to see how incredibly insightful, empathetic, and supportive they are. Parents and carers are welcome to call in to the Administration Building and see our Ally Pledge display wall which will remain in place for the next week. Here is a small snapshot of the powerful ally pledges made:

“I will do all I can to support and respect everyone for their differences. I will respect all pronouns, gender identities, sexualities, cultures and religions”.

“You are perfect no matter who you are and what you identify as being.”

“This school has room for everyone.”

“Accept that people are different.”

“I pledge to support LGBTQIA+ people. I will support their sexuality, gender identity and pronouns. I will stand up against homophobia, transphobia, biphobia and interphobia.”

“Stay you, be true. I am an ally for LGBTQIA+”

“All are welcome here.”

In addition, our rainbow donut and sausage sizzle fundraiser was an incredible success. It created a lovely, positive vibe within the school grounds, and supplies sold out very quickly! We managed to raise nearly $300, and our LGBTQIA+ student group will consider how the school can best utilise these funds.

Again, if you or your child are experiencing any issues or concerns, there are a range of services and supports available which include:

ZAQUE Grampians: a group that aims to provide a safe and supportive space for LGBTIQ+ young people aged 12-25: https://www.rainbownetwork.com.au/directory/zaque

Queerspace: Programs and Support for LGBTQI+ Youth and their parents/carers https://www.queerspace.org.au/our-programs/

Beyond Blue: Families Like Mine is a multimedia guide offering practical advice to families of young gender diverse people, same sex attracted and bisexual people, and those who are questioning their sexuality or gender identity

https://resources.beyondblue.org.au/api/prism/document?token=BL/1138

QLIFE: Provides Australia-wide peer support and referral. Anonymous, Free and services are for LGBTI+ individuals, their friends and families. Phone and Web chat from 3pm - Midnight every day: https://qlife.org.au/about-us

Minus18 provides mental health and peer mentoring support to same sex attracted and gender diverse young people from all over Australia. https://www.minus18.org.au/

Switchboard: Anonymous, free telephone counselling, information, and referrals for LGBTQI+ individuals https://www.switchboard.org.au/

The Zoe Belle Gender Centre (ZBGC): An online service supporting the health and wellbeing of Victoria’s sexuality and gender diverse community. The ZBGC also provides an online Q & A service for people seeking answers to their questions about sexuality and gender diversity. https://zbgc.org.au/

Shannon Thompson

Mental Health Practitioner

Ballarat High School

Colourful Science Fun during IDAHOBIT Week

Year 9 science always has something fun to offer! IDAHOBIT week was certainly no exception. During science lessons this term, 9E was investigating the concept of ‘pH testing’.

pH testing is conducted when scientists are trying to determine how acidic or basic a solution may be. Students tested this property with a number of unknown samples.

Students can use pH indicator, in this case ‘red cabbage juice’, to test solutions for pH levels. When students added drops of the pH indicator to the different solutions they would see that depending on the type of solution, the colour would change. For solutions that were strongly acidic, students observed a pink colour. Whereas solutions that were bases, turned green.

At the conclusion of the experiment the lab had turned into a wonderfully colourful space with some students observing the rainbow of pH testing. Definitely a great way for the students to finalise the celebration of IDAHOBIT week.

Alumni Project Update