Elly Barnes

Elly Barnes
Born 1971 (age 44–45)
Leicestershire
Occupation CEO
Organization Educate & Celebrate

Elly Barnes MBE (born 1971 in Leicestershire) is the Founder and Chief Executive of the charity Educate & Celebrate, an organisation whose remit is to ensure schools are Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans 'friendly'. She was voted Number 1 in the Independent on Sunday's Pink List in 2011.[1] (now the Rainbow List), was a judge in 2012[2] and number twenty-one in 2013[3] and 2014.[4] Barnes has been shortlisted for the National Diversity Awards 2015 as a 'Positive Role Model for Age.'[5]

Elly Barnes was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2016 for her contribution to education, equality and diversity.[6]

Education

Barnes attended Market Bosworth High School and The Bosworth College. She then studied for a degree in music, specialising in voice, at the Birmingham Conservatoire and the completed her Post Graduate Certificate of Education(PGCE) at the faculty of Education at the University of Central England, now known as Birmingham City University. She had her Newly qualified teacher(NQT) year at The Barclay School in Stevenage whilst studying for a Diploma in Music Technology at Hertfordshire University. Barnes is currently completing an MA in school based explorations at Goldsmiths University.

Early LGBT Work

Barnes first job was as a peripatetic singing teacher in Hertfordshire and London. She then obtained a permanent teaching role at Stoke Newington School in North London becoming Head of Year in 2005. That year, she began working with Schools Out to initiate LGBT History Month at Stoke Newington School with the aim of eradicating homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic language and bullying by challenging young people's (and teachers, parents and governors) perceptions of LGBT people.

The approach taken by LGBT History Month was to educate young people about different gender identities and sexual orientations by introducing recognisable symbols of the LGBT community, famous LGBT people and the history of the LGBT struggle.[7]

During these early years Barnes and her team created LGBT-Inclusive schemes of work for their year 7 including ICT lessons on Alan Turing, LGBT symbols, key rings, rainbow flag in Design & Technology and songs by LGBT artists in music.[8] All the teachers in the year team contributed; the project developed over the next 7 years[9] into a school-wide celebration of LGBT History Month with an integrated curriculum for which received ‘best practice’ status from Ofsted in 2012 for successfully tackling homophobic bullying and ingrained attitudes in our schools stating that ‘This approach has been highly successful.’[10]

Educate & Celebrate

In 2010 Barnes developed her theory and practice into the ‘Educate & Celebrate’ teacher training and resource programme to make educational institutions ‘LGBT+Friendly’ through standardising and creating centres of 'best practice'.[11]

Activities

Barnes is a National Union of Teachers trade union member, a public speaker on panels,[12] television[13] and writer on LGBT issues.[14] She is currently employed as the LGBT Schools Advisor for Birmingham City[15] and Durham County Councils[16]

References

  1. ↑ "The Independent on Sunday Pink List 2011". The Independent on Sunday. 23 October 2011.
  2. ↑ "The Independent on Sunday Pink List 2012". The Independent on Sunday. 4 November 2012.
  3. ↑ "The Independent on Sunday Pink List 2013". The Independent on Sunday. 13 October 2013.
  4. ↑ "Rainbow List 2014, 1 to 101". The Independent on Sunday. 9 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "National Diversity Awards 2015 Shortlist".
  6. ↑ "Queen's Birthday Honour's 2016: Education and Children's Services". Gov.uk.
  7. ↑ Drabble, Emily (17 February 2013). "How I built a career in LGBT education". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  8. ↑ Drabble, Emily (4 February 2013). "How to teach...LGBT History Month". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  9. ↑ Learner, Sue (26 October 2010). "Making Homophobia History". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  10. ↑ "Good practice resource - A whole-school approach to tackling homophobic bullying and ingrained attitudes: Stoke Newington School and Sixth Form". Ofsted. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  11. ↑ Godfrey, Chris (20 November 2014). "Homophobic abuse in schools is not the fault of the students – it's the fault of the schools". The Independent. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  12. ↑ Reid-Smith, Tris (16 January 2014). "Panel speaker debating 'Should travellers boycott anti-gay and anti-trans countries?'". Gay Star News.
  13. ↑ Lobo, Joe (26 November 2014). "Homophobic crimes reported on the rise in the Midlands". ITV News.
  14. ↑ "Report: The Magazine from ATL, the Education Union" (PDF). ATL. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  15. ↑ "Birmingham City Council page for LGBT information, training and services.". Birmingham City Council. Retrieved 2 December 2014.
  16. ↑ "Special advisor to tackle homophobia and transphobia in schools". Durham County Council. Retrieved 2 December 2014.

External links

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