LGBTQIA+ Inclusion Training for UK Schools & Colleges

Ensuring all young people feel safe, seen and supported

 

Download the Rainbow Wise for Schools brochure
LGBTQ+ young people in the UK experience disproportionate levels of discrimination, exclusion, and mental health challenges, and nowhere is this more evident than when they are in school.

The School Report, published by Stonewall in 2021, found that only 29% of bullied LGBT pupils said that teachers responded when they were present during homophobic, transphobic or biphobic bullying.

It is vital that schools provide a safe, supportive, and inclusive environment for all students, but many school staff simply don’t have up-to-date knowledge or the right language to effectively and confidently work with LGBTQ+ students or manage challenging situations when they arise.

All of these issues can be fixed relatively easily through training, but often, the training options available to schools to improve LGBTQ+ awareness and inclusion can be expensive, time-consuming and time-limited, and don’t always have sufficient impact to evolve the culture of an entire school decisively. That’s why we decided to create something different.

“Rainbow Wise is hands down one of the most engaging and thoughtfully designed online programmes I’ve come across for school staff.

As someone with ADHD, I really appreciate the variety of question types and the ability to dip in and out in bite-sized chunks as it keeps me focused and motivated. The quizzing for retrieval is especially brilliant and the regional accents make it feel personal and relatable. The content is perfectly pitched; clear, concise, and never overwhelming. I’m feeling more confident navigating language associated with gender and sexuality. I’ve already noticed myself correcting my own language with colleagues, which makes me feel well-informed and proud.

A standout moment for me in the training was the explanation of gender identity as it helped me feel safer discussing the topic with my teenage daughter, who actually said it was ‘cool’ I was doing this. That alone made the course worth it. I recommend the programme for educators everywhere who want to support pupils and colleagues from the LGBTQ+ community to be safe at school.”

Nadia Heswtone

FORMER HEADTEACHER, CEO OF DESTINO COACHING AND CO-FOUNDER OF BEYOND TEACHING

Download the Rainbow Wise for Schools brochure
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Rainbow Wise provides:

  • A slick and interactive e-learning course that can be completed in multiple small chunks or all in one sitting
  • Access from any device, at any time
  • An ongoing record of user progress so that every school can monitor their own staff and identify where additional support may be needed
  • Downloadable and printable resource documents and reference sheets
  • An annual licence so staff can go back in and check up on any aspect of the training at any time
  • Updates throughout the year when and if and when any relevant changes to UK law or statutory guidance are made
  • Impact assessments to evidence improvements in staff knowledge and confidence
  • The ability to download reports on whole-school engagement for your records
  • The Rainbow Wise Award once 90% of your staff team has completed the training
Download the Rainbow Wise for Schools brochure
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Course Objectives

Participants will gain a thorough understanding of:

  • The lived experiences of LGBTQ+ young people in UK schools
  • Current legal obligations, statutory guidance and best practice when working with LGBTQ+ students and the wider school community
  • Appropriate and inclusive use of language and terminology
  • Strategies to develop inclusive classroom environments and respond to incidents of discrimination
  • How to confidently support students who are LGBTQ+ or questioning their identity
  • Ways to manage challenging situations and foster a respectful, informed school community

Delivery Format

 

  • Fully online and accessible on-demand
  • CPD accredited with certification upon completion
  • Flexible format suitable for INSET, twilight sessions, or individual study
  • Approx. 90 minute completion time, divided into short modules

“LGBTQ+ young people are more than 4 times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers. However, if a young LGBTQ+ person has a single supportive adult, they are 40% less likely to attempt suicide.”(The Trevor Project, 2021.)

Rainbow Wise exists to make sure that every member of school staff has the knowledge, language and confidence to be that supportive adult.

Let us help your school become more Rainbow Wise.

“I thought the training was really good and very informative. I felt quite confident in my knowledge already but since our understanding of LGBTQ+ is always evolving it was actually really good to find things I didn’t know. I feel it’s improved my confidence in discussing these matters with students and tackling homophobic and transphobic bullying. I found it broke things down without being patronising and I found the course website easy to use.”

Miss Hannah Matthews
TEACHER OF MATHEMATICS

“The training is great and covers everything that we needed. It’s really user friendly and I love the way its chunked into small sections so that it doesn’t need to be completed in one sitting. A fabulous resource for anybody who works with the general public but especially young people. I would highly recommend the Rainbow Wise training.”

Lisa Butcher
PSHE/RE LEAD AND TEACHER OF MUSIC

Make LGBTQ+ inclusion an integral part of your school’s culture

We’d love to help you understand how Rainbow Wise training can support your whole school.

If you’d like to explore how Rainbow Wise can be introduced in your setting, you can book a call with our team and talk it through in detail.

For any specific questions, feel free to reach out by email below.

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