CODE RED: Period Dignity - Denny High School

Key actions:

• One of the actions from the Code Red group is to ensure everyone has access to period products and to restock toilets for both pupils and staff throughout the year.
• Communicating with senior management provided us with the opportunity to take the lead in ordering period products at a whole school level to ensure a range of quality products were readily available.
• The group provide ongoing support to pupils and families to sign up to the free period product service and would welcome a wider range of sustainable products to ensure sustainable options are accessible for all.
• The group also developed P7 transition period starter packs in order to normalise periods before there is an awareness that there is stigma around periods.

Raising awareness: 

• Due to regular communication both pupils and staff (for example, we record videos, TikToks and posters to share in each House Team as well as tannoy announcements to increase the awareness of Code Red) were aware that we were addressing a need. Although products were initially vandalized, we continued to restock, highlighting they were an essential item in toilets just like toilet roll and eventually vandalism reduced.
• Periods are predominately experienced by women and girls however; other people experience periods too. We spoke to the diversity group who recommended where they would prefer to keep the products.
• We recorded a Q&A with Dr Kinkaid on periods who specializes in female health to ensure both pupils and staff were able to make more informed choices about their body. We ensured that we asked the questions people may feel nervous or embarrassed to ask.
• We shared our own reviews of eco- friendly products which we sampled during Code Red Go Eco to highlight the range of products available including menstrual cups and reusable tampon applications.

Seeking feedback: 

In June, 2020 after a year of launching Code Red we developed a MS Form for feedback which highlighted that there was an awareness of Code Red within school. This year, monitoring of the number of products being used is being undertaken to calculate on average how many periods we will have supported which will further highlight the success of Code Red.

Ensuring access: 

• During lockdown, we ensured both pupils and families had access to products by developing a delivery service through MS Forms before the local authority service was available.
• We communicated with the pastoral team to share updates through MS Teams encouraged pupils to sign up to the local authority service and use the digital resources we developed with Dr Kinkaid on periods.
• We have since ensured the most vulnerable families are able to access the local authority service by contacting families directly via telephone to support them in completing the application on their behalf, addressing any literacy or technology barriers.