Our Vision

About Inc

The INC project was led by School of Hard Knocks Cymru. School of Hard Knocks is a social inclusion charity that works with schools to improve the attendance, behaviour and wellbeing of pupils. Although our primary goal is to answer a request for help from our schools in Wales, we also hope that the resources will be shared and useful to schools beyond Wales and that the project will inspire others to take a similar student-centred approach and engage students directly so they can advise schools on what changes need to be made.

The INC project was created because some of the schools that School of Hard Knocks works with in Wales asked for help. The schools had seen School of Hard Knocks staff using pronouns and other gender inclusive language and creating spaces where students felt safe to be themselves.

School of Hard Knocks was already working to become a more inclusive and supportive organisation by engaging with other community organisations about LGBTQI+ and transgender inclusion and seeking expert advice and training.

School of Hard Knocks, accompanied by consultant Alison Carney and funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, designed the INC project resources and training to support schools in Wales to become more inclusive of transgender, non-binary and gender exploring students.

The approach of the INC project was to collaborate with LGBTQI+ students in schools in order to understand what they need schools to do better. The resulting guide and training provide schools with suggestions of good practice and signpost to expert organisations and further resources that should help schools become more inclusive.