Elly Barnes was voted No: 1 in The Independent on Sundays Pink List 2011 for her commitment to LGBT in education and awarded a ‘highly commended’ by the TES ‘Teacher of the Year’ 2012.
She began Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans History Month celebrations at Stoke Newington School, Hackney, North London in 2005 with a view to eradicating homophobic language and challenging young peoples perceptions of LGBT people.
As an experienced teacher, Elly went on to set up her own school as a Diversity Training Centre for teachers in 2010, offering LGBT training and INSET to teachers nationally in how to make their own schools LGBT friendly.
This whole school approach was recognised by Ofsted as ‘a centre of best practise’ for successfully tackling homophobic bullying.
Elly has developed her ‘Educate and Celebrate’ training course over the last 3 years drawing on her experiences of implementing the most effective strategies in the classroom and using feedback from delegates to inform best practise.
Elly is the LGBT Schools Advisor for Birmingham City Council, the Equality and Diversity Lead at Stoke Newington School and a freelance diversity trainer. She also volunteers as the National Schools rep for LGBT History month and SchoolsOUT, an active union member and a regular public speaker on LGBT issues.
“Educating through the curriculum is key to creating an enlightened environment in which our teachers and students can thrive and be who they want to be without fear of discrimination” Elly Barnes