Management Information Sheet
February is LGBT History Month - What will your school do to celebrate it?
Dear Headteacher (please pass on the attached resources to whoever in your school leads on pastoral/behavioural issues/SRE to disseminate to staff)
February is LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) History Month. The theme this year is Music and in the attachments you will find a wealth of ideas and activities that your school can engage in during the month. I would like to hear from you so please advise me about any activities your school does or plans to do during the month and whether you would like publicity or not - Rita Adair
We know that Ofsted are exploring how school's are challenging homophobic language and bullying (see attached Ofsted guidance January 2014) so we are planning a Mind your Language campaign to encourage all pupils and staff to challenge derogatory and inappropriate homophobic comments such as 'You're so gay!' Full details and resources will be in next week's ecourier. We have been provided with powerpoint ideas to use in school by Nick O'Brien, Teacher at Neatherd High - feel free to use with classes.
We will also be running a survey for pupils to find out the extent to which schools in Norfolk experience homophobic language. Your school will be able to get involved and the results will be treated with the same confidentiality that the Norfolk Anti-Bullying survey results are treated so that only you as Headteacher will be able to access by using a password. Again full details in next week's ecourier.
Finally we hope your school will sign up to the Hate Free Norfolk pledge and to encourage the phrase 'We don't use language in this school as we are a Hate Free Norfolk school'. Go to the Hate Free Norfolk website to sign up - www.hatefreenorfolk.com/hate-free-norfolk-pledge
There is training available to secondary staff on Thursday 13th February 2014 at Norwich Professional Development Centre. This will discuss issues like Ofsted, challenging homophobic language and teaching sexual health. Full details are available from Carol Burgess or Rita Adair
If you require any further information, support or training in this area, please contact Rita Adair