Bedales Student recognised as Young Achiever

Bedales Student recognised as Young Achiever

16/05/2011

Bedales sixth form student Claudia White is celebrating after receiving a ‘Young Achiever Award’ from Hampshire County Magazine at their annual awards ceremony held at Beaulieu. Claudia was recognised for her work on a campaign to tackle bullying in schools, especially against the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) community and more broadly to encourage respect for everyone regardless of their differences.

Claudia set up ‘global respect in education’ campaign (GRIN) earlier this year during the school holidays and in her own time developed a website, a fundraising campaign, a protest photo-shoot and an online shop to raise awareness of GRIN. Claudia now has over 2500 followers on Twitter and has generated interest from many campaign groups in the US including from academia.

She is in the process of contacting the Government with suggested improvements to the ‘Importance of Teaching: The Schools White Paper 2010’.  Her next aim is to complete an educational package to help instil respect for people’s differences across year groups in primary and secondary education.

Commenting on the award, Claudia said:  “I am delighted to have been given this award and have dedicated it to all those out there who feel like they are being bullied or ‘just different’ in some way.  I want them to know that there are people out there who care for them, and that life does get better.  If there is something wrong, unfair or unjust in the world then you can take action and make a difference.  The support that I have received from my friends, teachers and family since starting GRIN campaign has been empowering.”  

Bedales Head of English, Graham Banks, also received a highly commended award for the ‘Teacher of the Year’ category and Claudia was very pleased to accept the award on his behalf.

Commenting on the Hampshire County Magazine awards, Keith Budge, Headmaster, Bedales Schools, said: “As a school community we have supported Claudia in her campaign from the outset and we are all inspired by her drive and determination to influence change in education for the better. It is wonderful that she has received recognition for her hard work.”

To find out more about GRIN and read their amendments to the Schools white paper visit www.grincampaign.com.

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