Information for school governors

School governors play an essential role in ensuring that their school is taking appropriate measures to prevent and respond to homophobic bullying.

Setting standards

Stonewall's 2009 research, The Teachers' Report, revealed that only a quarter of primary and secondary school teachers in England and Wales say their school governors demonstrate a clear leadership role when it comes to tackling homophobic bullying.  However, under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 school governors have a duty to promote the wellbeing of all children and young people in their care, and this includes any child or young person who experiences homophobic bullying.

In order to ensure that schools are fulfilling their responsibility to prevent and tackle homophobic bullying and to support lesbian, gay and bisexual young people, school governors need to be equipped with information and training to help them understand the role they play in doing so.

What you can do as a school governor: 

• Ensure your school’s anti-bullying policy specifically includes homophobic bullying.
• Ask your headteacher to update the governing body on a regular basis on the number of homophobic bullying incidents and how the school has dealt with them.
• Find out what training school staff receive on preventing and tackling omophobic bullying, as well as supporting lesbian, gay and bisexual young people.
• Ensure parents are involved – through the governing body and otherwise – in the life of the school and that this includes lesbian, gay and bisexual parents and those in same-sex relationships.
• When developing and updating the school curriculum policy, ask the headteacher how it addresses different families and lesbian, gay and bisexual issues in an age-appropriate way.
• Look at your own governor training: have you and your governing body been provided with relevant training on homophobic bullying? Ask your Chair of Governors what training is available to you.
• Find out if your local authority is signed up to Stonewall’s Education Champions programme or your school is signed up to our School Champions programme, which provide support on tackling homophobic bullying.

Interested in becoming a school governor? 

You don’t have to be a parent to get involved in the life of a school in your local area. Contact your local authority to find out more about being a school governor and what it involves.

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