Student Voice

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Student Voice

• Involving students to bring
• about positive change in secondary schools and
  colleges

Chris Dye Education Officer
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Why is involving young people important?

• Peer to peer approach is most effective
• Young people are best placed to inform
  anti-homophobic bullying work
• Builds trust with young people
• Shows commitment
• Young people develop new skills and knowledge
• Improves students self-confidence

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Stonewall Youth Volunteering Programme

• 150 young people
• Residential 3 6 month review Youth Awards
• Youth Leader

• Who they reached with their campaigns.
• 7,000 school and college students
• 2,200 young people in other settings
• 1,650 university students
• 29 MPs and councillors
• 620 teachers and other school staff
• 80 school governors
• 65 head teachers

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Education for All Campaign Guide

1. Student Survey
2. Workshops/Assemblies
3. Teacher training
4. Celebrate a national event
5. Set up a student group

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What students need to support their campaigns
Support from leadership
Suitable campaign type
Right audience timing
Staff champion
Targets
Targets

• Helping to get permission
• Accessing resources
• Dealing with discrimination

• Senior staff invested
• Built into timetable
• Embedded in curriculum
• YP involved in work

• Their own year group or another?
• Will staff be receptive?
• Who is already interested?

• Realistic
• Specific
• Deadlines
• Success is clear

• Resources the school has
• YP skills and confidence levels
• School/college environment

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What Stonewall Youth Volunteers have done
Senior management asked me if I could provide
more training for teachers in this areasince the
first workshops I have had teachers come up and
tell me how they confronted homophobia in their
classthis is something I am proud of.
My contact was incredibly enthusiastic and
encouraging and has given me the schools
Equality Policy to look over.
I amended the entire citizenship curriculum and
made a PowerPoint presentation that teachers are
now using in class.
I have successfully started a lunchtime club for
LGB students and it is running every Wednesday
during lunchtime.
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Engaging young people in schools and colleges

• Updating policies
• Creating student-friendly versions of policies
• Raising awareness with students
• Developing and delivering training for staff
• Marking events like Anti-Bullying Week
• Creating a gay-friendly environment e.g. by
  displaying posters suggesting books to be
  stocked in the library
• Attitude surveys

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The posters can be used to engage young people
Make sure young people have access to the
Stonewall website for young people
www.youngstonewall.org.uk
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www.youngstonewall.org.uk
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Student Voice

• Involving students to bring
• about positive change in secondary schools and
  colleges

Nell Beecham Stonewall Youth Volunteer
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Student Voice

• Involving students to bring
• about positive change in secondary schools and
  colleges

Andrew Plaistowe Head of Year 7 Highgate School
Toby Sharpe Former pupil Highgate School
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Under Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988
schools were scared of doing assemblies like this
Section 28 was repealed by the government in
November 2003, but there is still much
controversy about discussing gay issues in
schools.
What am I going to talk to you about?
A local authority "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". Section 28, The Local
Government, Act 1988
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HIGHGATE SCHOOL
LGBT SOCIETY
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,
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Y7 PSHE
Do you think And Tango Makes Three should be
banned? Why do you think some people say that it
should be?
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When do we learn to be prejudiced?
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Middle school assembly
24 January 2011
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What next?
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Discussion

• How do you already involve young people in your
  work?
• What do you need to do to engage young people in
  your work to prevent and tackle homophobic
  bullying and celebrate difference?
• What are the challenges and how can these be
  overcome?

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• www.youngstonewall.org.uk
• education_at_stonewall.org.uk
• 08000 50 20 20