Teachers should be given more training to deal with anti-gay bullying, the House of Lords heard yesterday.
Responding to questions, schools minister Lord Hill of Oareford agreed that teachers should be trained to spot signs of homophobic bullying and that changes to Ofsted’s remit would give the school inspection body more time to look for such issues.
He said: “We have updated our advice to schools to make it clear that prejudice-based bullying such as homophobic bullying should not be tolerated.
“This advice signposts schools to specialist organisations, such as Stonewall, that can support them. Accountability in how schools tackle bullying will also be sharpened through the new Ofsted inspections framework.”
To read the full article, click here
Lord Collins of Highbury, who is openly gay, said: “We need more than just words; we need tools to do the job. Will the minister therefore give an undertaking that Ofsted will investigate how schools respond to homophobic bullying when visiting them in future?”
Lord Hill responded: “Without wishing to be too prescriptive about everything that Ofsted will look for, as the noble Lord will know the whole purpose of our slimming down the inspection framework for Ofsted to concentrate on four core areas-including behaviour and safety-is precisely so that they have more time to look for the kind of issues that the noble Lord is concerned about.”