It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognise, accept and celebrate those differences.
Audre Lorde, American writer and Civil Rights activist
LGBT+ History Month
LGBT+ History Month is celebrated this February. This highlights the important role that we, as educators, play in enabling children and young people to celebrate diversity; challenge discrimination; and see themselves and their own families represented in the literature that is shared with them.
Founded in 2004 and first celebrated in 2005, LGBT+ History Month was set up by the Co-Chairs of the charity ‘Schools OUT’ who state their “over-arching aim is to make our schools safe and inclusive for everyone.”
The theme of LGBT+ History Month in 2023 is #BehindtheLens, celebrating LGBT+ people’s contribution to film and cinema from behind the camera, including make-up artists, costume designers, directors and screenwriters. This encourages us to look not only at the members of the LGBT+ community who are familiar to us in the media, but to consider the contribution and stories of those who work or have worked behind the scenes too. You can read more about this and access resources here.
RSE Curriculum
The recent changes in the National Curriculum for Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) ensure that children are educated about the respected characteristics, with sexual orientation and gender reassignment being included. The aim is for children to develop and grow with an innate respect for others, by allowing them to see the full diversity of our world through their curriculum. Creating a curriculum that celebrates diversity and equality is a priority for educators. To support you in creating an LGBT+ inclusive curriculum you may want to look at free guides such as Creating an inclusive primary curriculum.
For more information about the objectives that must be covered in RSE by the end of primary school and then secondary school, please refer to the following document from the DfE: Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education guidance.
Resources to Support your Curriculum
There is a vast variety of books available to help promote LGBT+ awareness within your classrooms, catering for all ages of primary and secondary pupils. These texts could be used as a stimulus around which to base writing, as part of the children’s reading spine, or to share with the class to support their learning in RSE.
Here are some suggested texts that are LGBT+ inclusive for children and young people:
EYFS/KS1:
Lower KS2:
Upper KS2:
Secondary:
Free Resource
Taking the Lower Key Stage 2 text, ‘Nen and the Lonely Fisherman’ by Ian Eagleton and James Mayhew, we have created a unit of writing following our PICC a Text approach which is pitched at Year 3. You can access this free resource here.
School Values
Consider deciding as a school a set of core values, which pupils recognise and can strive to show. Developing qualities such as kindness, respect and enthusiasm are as important in a child’s development as the academic skills and knowledge gained through the Curriculum. Values can be embedded in many ways: through assemblies, displays, PSHE, circle time and awards for children showing a particular attribute. Examples of this could be, “showing resilience and not giving up when solving maths problems” or “fantastic teamwork in our science investigation.” Building a diverse and inclusive reading spine is a fantastic way of representing all members of our communities, as well as providing prompts for discussion. The charity ‘No Outsiders’ is a great starting point for assemblies that develop core values and promote equality within your school.
Save the Date: National Storytelling Week 2023
The Society for Storytelling’s ‘National Storytelling Week’ is taking place from 30th January to 5th February 2023.
You may want to mark this by linking it to LGBT+ History Month. You may like to share the story, ‘And Tango Makes Three’, giving children the opportunity to retell this orally. Alternatively, many of the suggestions above would provide you with the opportunity to retell stories about equality and diversity.
You can find further resources to mark the event in your school by following the links below:
We deserve to experience love fully, equally, without shame and without compromise.
Elliot Page, Actor and the first transgender man to appear on the cover of Time magazine
