Chris Lillington, Assistant Headteacher PROMOTING EQUALITY AMD CHALLENGING HOMOPHOBIA

Context  comprehensive school  1420 students  Otley, 12 miles north of Leeds  92% White British  England Rugby Chartered Development Centre  Achieved Level 3 of the Stephen Lawrence Education Standard in September 2010

Ethnicity & Culture FaithGenderDisabilitySexuality Socio- economic Age Equality and Diversity

Student Diversity Forum  35 students from Years 7 to 13.  Meet once a month. OBJECTIVES:  Tackle racism and other types of discrimination  Celebrate the diversity of our school  Ensure that there is equality of opportunity for everyone at Prince Henry’s  Promote a culture of respect for all individuals

Student Diversity Forum

Our 12-point Action Plan: Priorities include... PriorityActivity 1 Look specifically at raising awareness of types of discrimination which are not often mentioned, such as homophobia and disability. 2 Do more to encourage students to report any incidents of racism or other types of discrimination. 3 Organise a special assembly, led by the Student Diversity Forum, to raise awareness about Stephen Lawrence and equality. 4 Organise a “Diversity Week” with several events to raise the profile of diversity and equality in school.

Tackling homophobia  Use wider equality issues as a “safe” starting point  Draw upon “student voice”  Staff Diversity Steering Group  Training for all staff: zero tolerance on homophobic language

Homophobic language  95% of secondary teachers report hearing comments like “You’re so gay”.  66% of these say that they do not always respond.  20% say that they rarely or never respond.  Half of secondary school teachers who are aware of homophobic bullying in their school say that the vast majority goes unreported.  43% of secondary teachers have heard other staff using such language or making homophobic comments. Extract from staff training

Homophobic bullying Extract from staff training

Challenging homophobia  CHALLENGE homophobic language every time.  REPORT and RECORD all homophobic incidents.  Make it explicit that homophobic bullying will not be tolerated.  Teach about sexuality as part of our work on equality and diversity through the curriculum.  Make sure that appropriate support is given to victims of homophobic bullying. Extract from staff training

Tackling homophobia  Displays

Curriculum  Assemblies for all year groups  Exploiting curricular opportunities  Citizenship lessons  Stonewall DVD: “Fit”  Caboodle Theatre in Education production: “Boxed In”

Monday 12 th Tuesday 13 th Wednesday 14 th Thursday 15 th Friday 16 th NORMAL TIMETABLE Each subject addresses at least:  ONE aspect of diversity with at least  ONE year group for at least  ONE lesson PLUS SPECIAL WORKSHOPS  Sexuality and gender roles in sport  Hinduism  Wheelchair basketball PSHCE DAYINTERNATIONAL DAY (The Caribbean)

Sexuality and gender roles in sport  Launch event.  Workshops delivered by Lou Englefield of Pride Sports.  Years 7 – 9.  Followed by mixed-gender games.

“Some people are gay. Get over it!”