National Inclusion Week: What Inclusion Means to Us in Creative Industries

National Inclusion Week has given us an opportunity to reflect on what inclusion means within Creative Industries and why it is such an important part of everything we do at Cambridge Regional College.

For us, inclusion is about belonging. It is about creating an environment where every student feels welcomed, valued, and respected for who they are. We know that our learners arrive with different experiences, backgrounds, identities, strengths and challenges, and we believe that this diversity is one of the greatest strengths of our community.

As a department, it is important to us that every student can access education in a way that is right for them. We recognise that there is no single way to learn, communicate or demonstrate talent. Creative people are often wonderfully different in the way they think, solve problems and express themselves. In many ways, Creative Industries gives us permission to be a little bit different and a little bit wonky with our learning, and we celebrate that. We believe that when students are able to learn in ways that play to their strengths and feel comfortable being themselves, they are far more likely to thrive.

Throughout National Inclusion Week, we have been celebrating these values in a number of ways. Our inclusion noticeboard has become a colourful celebration of diversity, belonging, and individuality. It highlights neurodiversity, LGBTQ+ inclusion, different cultures, different identities and different ways of thinking. It encourages students to challenge stereotypes, support one another and refuse to be bystanders when they encounter behaviour that excludes others. Most importantly, it sends a simple message: there is a place for everyone here.

Today also marks the launch of our first Wellbeing Choir. Students from across the college have been invited to come together to sing purely for fun, connection, and wellbeing. There is something incredibly powerful about a group of people coming together and sharing a moment through music. You do not need to be the best singer in the room to belong in a choir, and we hope that through this initiative students will build confidence, friendships, and a stronger sense of connection to the wider CRC community. Community is such an important part of inclusion. When people feel connected, they feel that they belong.

We have also been working with Books4Topics to develop reading spaces that reflect the diversity of our student community. By providing a range of books covering different genres, interests, abilities, cultures, and lived experiences, we hope that every student can find something that speaks to them. We know that reading is not only important for learning, but also for wellbeing. Books can offer comfort, escapism, inspiration and understanding, and every young person deserves the opportunity to experience the enjoyment of reading.

Finally, students from across Creative Industries and the wider college have been helping to create our ‘Our CRC’ flag. Each student has been invited to contribute their own square, celebrating the individual they are and the contribution they make to our community. Looking at the flag, no two squares are the same, yet together they create something vibrant, creative, and meaningful. It feels like the perfect representation of inclusion. We are all different, but together we make CRC what it is.

National Inclusion Week reminds us that inclusion is not something that happens during one week of the year. It is something that lives in our classrooms, workshops, studios, and corridors every day. It is found in the opportunities we create, the barriers we remove, the conversations we have and the communities we build.

Most of all, it is about ensuring that every student knows that they belong, because when people feel that they belong, they are free to be themselves, develop their talents and achieve their potential. And that is something worth celebrating.