Charities to tackle LGBT bullying in schools

The grants from the Department for Education will help organisations in their work to prevent homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, and follows a recent Youth Chances survey that showed around half of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) young people experience discrimination.

It will pay for improved training on LGBT awareness for teaching staff and to provide school-based resources. Grants include £128,754 for the National Children’s Bureau (NCB), £263,218 for Barnardo’s and £465,594 for Stonewall.

In January, plans to create the UK’s first-ever LGBT school, based in Manchester, were revealed by LGBT Youth North West. It said a dedicated school was needed because mainstream schools were unable to properly deal with homophobic bullying, however a petition was set up against the move over fears it would segregate LGBT pupils.

NCB’s Sex Education Forum and the Anti-Bullying Alliance will use the DfE funding to address the lack of confidence that many teachers report in tackling homophobic bullying.

The forum will provide training to 1,500 primary and secondary school teachers, beginning in Nottingham City and Leicestershire councils before extending to six more local authorities.  

Teachers will help prevent sexual orientation and/or gender identity bullying by ensuring sex and relationships education (SRE) within personal, social, health and economic lessons are inclusive to LGBT young people.

Lucy Emmerson, co-ordinator of the forum, said: “Young people have repeatedly said that same-sex relationships and transgender people are often completely invisible in SRE.

“Teachers have also called for support in creating LGBT-inclusive curriculum content and advice about how to tackle homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying when it occurs.

“This project will ensure more children and young people benefit from good-quality SRE, something we believe should be a statutory part of the curriculum in all schools.”

The Anti-Bullying Alliance will begin by building an understanding of homophobic bullying through 10 schools across Avon and Somerset as part of the Educational Action Challenging Homophobia Consortium.

A whole-school approach will be taken to tackle the problems and develop resources, as well as training for staff to deal with homophobic bullying, including among those with special educational needs and disabilities. Around 600 teachers will also receive training, with examples from the project shared nationally.

Lauren Seager-Smith, national co-ordinator of the Anti-Bullying Alliance, said: “Our particular role in the project is to consult with disabled young people about their experiences of homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying, and to make sure schools are supported to make their anti-bullying work fully inclusive.”