Hillside raises awareness of hidden disabilities
Co-op Academy Hillside is proud to be a Stoma Aware School. By celebrating the people who live with this hidden condition, pupils at the school have been putting into practice our Ways of Being Co-op: show you care; be yourself, always, do what matters most and succeed together.
Pupils have shown a great deal of compassion when taught about this subject, and we look forward to them being able to talk to people with stomas openly and with empathy. One of Hillside’s brilliant pupils has a stoma and this has ignited the school community with a desire to make her feel valued and understood.
A stoma is a small opening in the tummy that is used to remove body waste into a collection bag. People have a stoma after a colostomy operation. It is now estimated that every one in 335 people in the UK are currently living with a stoma.
Children and adults of all ages can have a stoma. Stoma surgery is used to treat a range of illnesses including cancer and Crohn’s disease or following an injury to the tummy.
The charity Colostomy UK received a phone call every 42 seconds - and that magic number inspired the the staff, pupils and community at Hillside to come together on the playground for an early morning ‘Wake Up ‘N’ Shake Up’, lasting for 4 minutes and 2 seconds.
“As a Co-op Academy we embrace 4 values - 'show you care', 'be yourself, always', 'succeed together' and 'do what matters most'. Yesterday, we came together - our Hillside family - and embodied these values in 4.2 minutes to show support and raise awareness for one of our very special pupils and Colostomy UK. We did this the Hillside way - with joy in our hearts and smiles on our faces! Huge thank you to everyone who joined in and donated! Now, shall we make it a regular event!?!”
‘Wake Up ‘N’ Shake Up’ coincided with Stoma Aware Day, organised by charity Colostomy UK. The theme for 2024 was ‘Do You See Me?’ and asks us all to be aware of the people around us with a stoma, and not to ignore them.
