Pitch perfect: Stoke Newington musicians at the Emirates ‘Educate and Celebrate’ event

The Emirates Stadium looked very different on the evening of Thursday 28 February, when Arsenal FC hosted an Educate and Celebrate event with William Patten Primary School and Stoke Newington School to mark the culmination of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transsexual (LGBT) history month.

Students offered an uplifting mix of music and poetry to an audience including Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. The MP, who lives in Stoke Newington, told the crowd: “I think it’s absolutely fantastic the work that Educate and Celebrate is doing and you should be proud to be part of it.”

Ms Cooper paid tribute to Stoke Newington School and to its head teacher, Annie Gammon, for the leading role they have played in the supporting LGBT History Month over the years.

Elly Barnes, a music teacher from Stoke Newington School, founded Educate and Celebrate three years ago in the aim of getting into every single school to train teachers and give them the confidence and skills to be able to ‘usualise’ LGBT people in
the classroom.

Barnes stressed the need to change the culture and ethos of schools. “In schools we have the Equality Act 2010 which states that all the nine protected characteristics be treated equally and fairly.

“The way we do that through Black History Month, Women’s History Month, and LGBT History Month.

“What we are doing is highlighting the histories and issues of those oppressed communities because they are not being treated fairly as of yet. What we have to do is get to where everyone can be who they want to be without any fear of discrimination whatsoever.”

Having the event at the Emirates was a massive boost for all those involved with LGBT History Month, as Arsenal FC has played an active role in combating discrimination on and off the pitch, setting up Arsenal for Everyone. Like Educate and Celebrate, the club wishes to ensure that everyone who is associated with them feels welcome, safe and has a sense of belonging.

Lou Englefield, chair of Pride Sports, was also in attendance. The significance of the event being held at the Emirates was not lost on her.

“A couple of years ago my colleague launched Football v Homophobia, a community-led initiative which was about the LGBT community saying enough is enough – we don’t want it to be like this,” Ms Englefield said.

“Some of the best outcomes we have had this season have been through grassroots clubs who have joined us and said that ‘we want to be part of this, we want to stand up and be counted around this issue.’”

POSTED: Fri 1 March 2013

The event, which took place last month, featured thought-provoking performances from some of the high-flying schools taking part in Elly’s groundbreaking training programme, which is entitled Educate And Celebrate – How To Make Your School LGBT-friendly.

Elly was voted No 1 in The Independent On Sunday’s 2011 Pink List for her commitment to LGBT issues in education. She was also awarded a ‘highly commended’ by the TES Teacher Of The Year in 2012. Her two-year teacher training programme, which she’s implementing with the assistance of Birmingham City Council, gives teachers the skills and resources to celebrate diversity and tackle homophobic and transphobic language and bullying in Birmingham schools.

Highlights of the showcase event included the Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council, Stephen Hughes, calling for Birmingham to be the first city to eradicate homophobia from all of its schools.

Entertainment on the night came from Turves Green, Perry Beeches and Ninestiles Schools. Other contributors included Councillor Steve Bedser, founder of LGBT History Month Sue Sanders, Amanda Daniels from BRAG (Bullying Reduction Action Group), David Viney (Health and Wellbeing Manager of the newly opened Birmingham LGBT Centre), Round Midnight Theatre Company, David Wright from OUTnorth LGBT youth service and Heather and Velma from Birmingham punk band DRAG.

For more information about joining the Educate And Celebrate teacher training programme, contact Elly at www.ellybarnes.com or ellybarnes@birmingham.gov.uk.

Henry Stewart 

Educate and Celebrate: Schools LGBT at the Emirates Stadium

It is two years since I wrote about the LGBT celebration at Stoke Newington School. A lot has happened since then and that event seems a long time ago. Ofsted inspected the school’s work on homophobia and LGBT equality, pronounced it Outstanding and now promotes the school’s work in its best practice section of its web site. Elly Barnes, the teacher responsible, was rated No. 1 on the Independent’s Pink List of the unsung heroes and heroines who make life as a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender person better.

This year’s celebration took place at the Emirates Stadium and has expanded to include more secondary schools, a local primary and a Church of England Secondary*. Yvette Cooper, Shadow Home Secretary, spoke at the event stating “we want as many schools as possible to tackle LGBT equality. We want every student to be proud of who they are.”

The celebration came at the end of LGBT history month, when study of significant LGBT figures is integrated into the curriculum. Year 7 students, for example, from Stoke Newington School explained how they had studied Alan Turing in ICT. Turing, often referred to as the “father of computer science”. was prosecuted for being homosexual and subsequently committed suicide.

A year 10 student sang “Dead End Justice” in tribute to the 70s band The Runaways. She explained how lyrics of the band, whose two female singers had a lesbian relationship, had helped her in working out her bisexual identity. Another student moved those around me to tears with the song she wrote herself about dealing with hate.

A group of students from LaSwap repeated the assembly they had done on GenderBread person. This striking visual introduces a different concept of gender identity – that it is not defined by just  your physical attributes but is also based on what you think in your head, what you feel ion your heart and how you express yourself (eg, the clothes that you wear).

That the event took place at the Emirates Stadium felt a significant step, at a time when there are no openly gay professional footballers. Samir Singh from Arsenal in the Community talked of how proud they were to be hosting the LGBT celebration and indeed the club’s web site promotes its support for LGBT month. There has even been a ’gay gooners’ supporters club formed. Funke Awoderu, from the Football Association suggested that “football needs to come out of the closet on LGBT issues”.

When my previous article was published in 2011 it was mocked by Toby Young in his Spectator and Telegraph blogs. He particularly scorned the idea that there might be students grappling with a transgender identity in a comprehensive school. Since then Ofsted has issued new guidance making clear schools have a responsibility to improve the progress of ‘vulnerable’ students and that this specifically includes not just lesbian, gay and bisexual students but also transgender students – in line with the new Equalities Act. Britain has come a long way since the days of Clause 28**.

For governors like myself this is an important statement. It means not just that is is fully acceptable to carry out LGBT equalities work but that it is my duty as a governor to make sure such work is taking place in the school. If you are a governor you should ask the school to report on what it is doing to tackle homophobia, to deal with any related bullying and to promote LGBT equality.

Useful resources can be found at Elly Barnes’ site, including these lesson plans, and The Classroom.

I am very proud to be Chair of Governors of Stoke Newington School. I am proud that our GCSE results are rated in the top 20%, compared to similar schools, in the new Ofsted dashboard and that our sixth form is in the top 10% in the country for student progress.

But I am as proud, if not more so, that Stoke Newington School puts inclusivity at the top of its priorities and seeks to create a safe and supportive environment for all our students. A huge congratulations to Elly Barnes, to headteacher Annie Gammon and to all the staff and students involved for their great work here.

Notes

* The full list of schools involved is Ackland Burghley, Urswick, Willliam Patten, Stoke Newington, Regents and LaSwap.

** Clause 28 was introduced by the Thatcher government in May 1988  and stated that a school “shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality” or “promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship”. It was repealed in Scotland in June 2000 and the rest of Great Britain in November 2003