'Making it better' project
In 2015/6 Equalities in Education was commissioned by Wolverhampton LGBT Network and x2y LGBT Youth Group to carry out a project with a local secondary school. This was funded by Wolverhampton HeadStart and was called 'Making it better'. The aims of the project were:
- To increase the confidence of school staff in supporting LGBT young people and challenging homophobic, bi-phobic and transphobic behaviour
- To raise awareness of school staff and young people of support locally available for LGBT young people and their families
- To raise awareness of school staff and young people of the issues and barriers experienced by LGBT young people
- To work with young people to develop resources to support LGBT equality in schools and more generally in the City, developing the skills of all participants and promoting awareness and understanding of issues affecting LGBT young people
People who worked on the project were:
Martha Bishop, Thomas Doherty, Leo Fransisco, Tex Royale, Ruth Wilson and Grace Wynne Willson. Equalities in Education also applied for additional funding from Creative Black Country to include animation in the films which were part of the resources created.
Staff and young people from x2y LGBT youth group acted as a consultative group and Equalities in Education is very grateful to them and also to staff and students from Highfields School, Wolverhampton, particularly Miss S Knight who supported the project throughout.
The project involved Diversity Role Models workshops for the whole of Year 9, training on LGBT equality for the pastoral team at the school (facilitated by Martha Bishop and Ruth Wilson), and a series of creative workshops with young people at the school, developing resources to support LGBTQ young people in Wolverhampton (led by Thomas Doherty and Ruth Wilson).
Posters
The workshops in the school resulted in the following four posters, which Wolverhampton LGBT Network and x2y LGBT youth group distributed to all secondary schools in Wolverhampton:
Animated films
As well as the posters, three short animated films were produced during the project. These were edited by Thomas Doherty, animations by Tex Royale and sound by Leo Fransisco. They are based on questions devised by students from the school, answered by staff and young people from the youth group.
All three are available on YouTube - click on the links to watch them:
Song
The group of Year 9 students who took part in the creative workshops also wrote and performed an original song, based on the colours of the rainbow flag. Here are the lyrics:
You are free to live your life
One where you can be yourself
One where we are no longer
Living in black and white
You and I can dance all night
Perfect the way we are
Let the colours enlighten you
March together, show your pride
I don’t care what they say
You need to be happy
The only way is to show yourself
So show yourself, show yourself
Life, healing, sunlight, spirit, nature, magic.
We are free to live our lives
Ones where we can be ourselves
No longer in black and white
Together things will be all right.
The performance of the song is also available on YouTube click here for the link
Feedback
Here are some of the comments from young people involved:
| Question | Answer | |
|---|---|---|
| What has been the best thing about taking part in this project? |
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| What have you learned? |
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| Is it important to learn about LGBT people at school? |
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And here are some of the comments from school staff about the training:
- Very informative training session
- Inclusive, interactive approach which generated a high level of engagement and understanding
- Really helpful clarifying some of the terminology
- Enjoyed competing / participanting in tasks rather than just reading information
- Really good resources to signpost young people
- Very informative and great resources to go away with for future reference. Great that it is very relevant to Wolverhampton
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