I first heard Shaun speak at an International Diversity Conference on the island in March 2016.  I was so inspired and engaged by Shaun’s presentation that I went to visit him at his school in London to experience his work first hand. As a highly regarded national speaker, qualified Headteacher and experienced trainer on diversity and inclusion in schools I knew that Shaun understood the educational context and had the experience and credibility of working with a wide range of teachers and young people across the country.  This led to an invitation from the Department of Education, Sport and Culture for Shaun to visit the Isle of Man to see how he could begin working with our schools and youth groups across the island in order to make them more positively LGBT+ inclusive. We knew from data gathered through a youth survey and from talking directly to young people on the island that this is not always the case and that this needed to change.

The Department For Education, Sport and Culture’s School Self Evaluation Document clearly states that all schools should actively promote ‘equality and diversity’ a statement also in keeping with the Equality Act 2017, which places a clear expectation upon schools to promote equality for those with the protected characteristics of sexual orientation, gender reassignment, sex, race, disability, age and marriage or civil partnership. The Equality Act places an expectation upon all schools to foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic, working pro-actively to prevent discrimination of all kinds.

Shaun spent time working directly with some of our primary and secondary schools and our LGBT+ Youth group.  He also assisted the Department in developing a long-term strategic vision for LGBT+ inclusion and gave a keynote presentation to every Senior Educational Leader on the island.

Shaun’s work has been extremely well received and we are continuing to work with him as we continue our journey aiming to make our island a truly “ inclusive and caring society” for all.

Chrissy Callaghan

School Improvement Advisor

(Inclusion)