Background

A primary school of 300 children, mixed gender ranging from age 4 years to 11 years. Located in Heswall – a small town on the Wirral in North West England. Mainly white British. Low pupil premium numbers.

WHY DID THE SCHOOL CHOOSE TO WORK WITH SHAUN DELLENTY?

I had heard Shaun speak at a workshop I was at. I was so inspired by him I told my Headteacher about him and asked if we could arrange training. Shaun made such an impact on me. I have never arrived back at school desperate to arrange training before! I knew that Shaun was the perfect person to train the staff. He is relatable, knowledgeable, intelligent and passionate. I could see a growing need for children to be educated in issues which are and can, affect their mental health. With the rise of social media pressures, I could see, in the classroom, that children were being exposed to more and more issues which they needed educated on, in order that they knew how to process and deal with them. As the world got older, much younger, I knew the time was now to ensure children went to the next chapter, armed with the knowledge, having processed it and ready to lead the way on LGBT and inclusion of everyone.

HOW HAS SHAUN’S TRAINING WORK IMPACTED UPON THE SCHOOL?

The work has been ground-breaking in terms of open discussion and acceptance of the use of language and issues, which previously may have been taboo for some children (in terms of the climatic norm.) The training also helped the staff to feel comfortable in approaching and teaching the children about issues, which previously they would not have been discussing. The work carried out in the last 2 to 3 years has been brilliant. The staff are comfortable with teaching. The children are open and honest. The older children have led the way, preparing assemblies, displays and workshops for the younger children – teaching them about issues and how to discuss and support people. The openness and honesty of the children has been amazing and they now comfortably use language that previously, would not have been commonly used. The older children carry out homophobia surveys before teaching and then a few weeks later after teaching to review changes in attitudes and learning acquired. They do this on the playground at playtimes. The results looked great. It is clear that after the teaching, the children understand the teaching and how it applies to every day life.

HOW DID SHAUN’S TRAINING IMPACT UPON YOUR SCHOOL?

The training opened up a whole new world of learning opportunities and ‘ways in’ with the children. The staff immediately felt more comfortable leading discussion on issues. The already, good behaviour, allowed the children to learn to support each other and openly discuss issues.

HOW DID SHAUN’S TRAINING IMPACT UPON TEACHING AND LEARNING?

As PSHE co-ordinator, it gave me the information to plan the teaching and learning for the whole school. It also gave the staff much more confidence to teach and lead discussion. I was able to plan the circle time teaching for the whole school and differentiate it accordingly to ensure, each year group was getting the information at their level. I was also able to use case studies I learned about through Shaun’s training. We were able to buy a selection of books to help with teaching and discussion too. Shaun’s teaching allowed for questions to be asked and answers to be given, which in turn, supported our planning and teaching.

HOW DID SHAUN’S TRAINING IMPACT UPON BEHAVIOUR?

Behaviour has always been good in our school, however, the teaching definitely opened children’s minds more and gave them the tools to discuss the issues and appreciate the importance of inclusion at every level. The teaching gave the children more understanding and therefore, more acceptance, which in turn must lead to better behaviour when dealing with such issues e.g. in the playground. There was the odd incident (2 at the most) were children called someone gay, however, the appropriate discussion was had with the child(ren) involved and they could see that this was not to be used as a slur on anyone’s character and in fact, it was not an insult at all, if that is what they were intending! Educating, educating, educating was the way forward. This has continued, year after year and has been woven into our rich curriculum tapestry. It is now part and parcel of every-day life in our school.

HOW DID SHAUN’S TRAINING IMPACT UPON ATTITUDES?

Attitudes became more open, particularly amongst the older children. Children have definitely become more open, understanding and accepting in their thinking. My aim was to ensure that children leaving Barnston Primary School to go to Secondary education, would be able to support and help people – with the education that they had. The children, in their discussion, became, protective of human beings no matter who they are. The children in school have always been protective of children, they see as vulnerable, but now they can see how people could be the target of bullying by non-accepting children. They thoroughly appreciate that children who may be perceived as different, are not different but that just because they can see this, doesn’t mean everyone can see this. They appreciate signs to look out for and how to help support anyone who may need help, in life.

Seeing the impact on the children in school. It has been amazing to see the transition from issues not discussed to the children openly and maturely discussing issues and supporting each other. Staff feeling comfortable and being given strategies to discuss issues openly. Another achievement is seeing the Year 6 children teaching the younger children about issues through Animal and Human Rights Club at lunchtime. The achievements are not necessarily quantifiable but are extremely important in growing our young citizens for the future.

HOW MIGHT LIFE IN SCHOOL HAVE CHANGED FOR ANY LGBT+ PUPILS IN YOUR SCHOOL SINCE THE TRAINING?

They will definitely feel more confident and supported. We have always propelled a very supportive environment and ethos in our school, however, being able to be open, with parents on board and staff does bring another dimension to our wonderful ethos which has grown in our school. In terms of British Values, we also changed the value of tolerance to the value of acceptance – we have adopted this value in our school. This work has been embedded with our LBGT+ work.

HOW MIGHT LIFE IN SCHOOL HAVE CHANGED FOR ANY LGBT+ PARENTS IN YOUR SCHOOL SINCE THE TRAINING?

• I would imagine that they must be welcoming and delighted that the children are being educated in these areas. Knowledge is power! As Nelson Mandela once said – ‘Education is the most powerful weapon that we can use to change the world.’ Without a doubt, any LGBT+ parents must be feeling ‘FINALLY’ the future generations are being educated in such matters and need to be. They would be happy that the government can now see this is needed at an earlier age based on the evidence and research.

HOW HAVE YOU ENSURED SUSTAINABILITY?

I have ensured sustainability through whole school planning. The following is a basic outline.

F2 and KS1 – Different families – 2 mummies/daddies/other relatives etc

Year 3 and 4 – Different families and also homophobia – what it means to be gay.

Year 5 and 6 – Different families/homophobia/transgender/relationships/transsexual

As the children move through the school, they revisit and take on new learning.

This learning ties in with lots of work on self-esteem, stress, self-image, emotional well-being and talking.

HAVE YOU USED THE TRAINING TO HELP OTHER SCHOOLS AT ALL?

We share ideas with our cluster schools and I have shared planning and ideas with other schools. I have sent blank copies of our homophobia survey for other schools to use in their schools.