Now you can join Rainbows in Schools officially!

We are formalizing the group structure a bit, to become a volunteer run, nonprofit, unincorporated association, with members, a committee, and office bearers.   This will mean that we can apply for grants to fund projects around increasing LGBTQI inclusion in Australian schools.

So, join up and join the conversation about improving school inclusion.

There is currently no joining fee.  We welcome people who identify as LGBTQI, and allies, from any part of Australia.  We respect your privacy and your details will not be passed onto any third party.

We will have our first meeting via email on the evening of Thurs May 3rd, so join by then to be part of the first official meeting where we will elect committee members. (Meeting is rushed, to meet bank's requirements for bank account, which we need for grant application.)

We forgot about the discussion group!! Come and join to be part of ongoing discussion about accelerating inclusion.

At the Better Together conference in January the meeting about school inclusion was huge - over 50 people in a room supposed to hold 20, and hours worth of vital work to discuss, but we only had 60 minutes.  There were people from all over Australia, from many different roles (teachers, students, parents, youth workers), some identifying as LGBTQI, and some as allies.

There was a lot of interest in continuing the conversations and networking in some form, but not enough time to discuss how to do this.  So, we planned to use the Rainbows in Schools Discussion Group on Facebook (until we figured out something else) to talk about the different ways we working towards inclusion, to share resources, and to work out how to network to keep the conversations going.

And then we blinked, and now it's the end of Feb, and we have suddenly been reminded of the group sitting there, unused..  So, let's change that.  Whether you were at the conference or not, if you are interested in accelerating LGBTQI inclusion in Australian schools, join the group, and let's share info, and inspiration to get this done! 

Are schools afraid of a backlash that isn't happening? And how much influence do conservative principals really have on LGBTQI inclusion in their schools?

When asked about what they thought were the barriers to schools taking further LGBTQI inclusive actions, forty-one percent of respondents mentioned 'fear of backlash', while only six percent mentioned 'actual backlash' and five percent mentioned 'a conservative principal'.  As usual with exploratory research like this, the results generate many further questions, including:

• Are the barriers mentioned the ones that are actually slowing down inclusion, or do they just look like they are?
• Are schools afraid of a backlash that isn't actually happening?  
• Do conservative principals really have so little influence over LGBTQI inclusion in their schools, or does it just look like that? 

These, and many other questions raised by the responses have significant implications for the targeting of resources.  For example, would it be more effective to use resources to challenge the myth of community backlash, or to support principals in managing actual backlash, or both?  Or, would it be more effective to try to change wider school community attitudes, or to help parents to manage conservative principals?

more details

Reservoir East PS did amazing things to support LGBTQI inclusion - let's support them now

This little school has funding troubles - so let's help them out by signing this petition to Education Minister, James Merlino. 

Reservoir East Primary School (REPS) is a small primary school in the northern suburbs of Melbourne.  The principal, James Cummings is pretty clear that human rights are more important than avoiding controversy. 

In April 2016, in response to an email from Cory Bernardi to a rainbow parent at REPS, deriding the Safe Schools program, the school acquired and flew a rainbow flag. 

On August 25, 2017, at the start of the marriage equality debate, REPS posted a photo on their Facebook page, of a giant YES sign made of YES stickers, on the school office window.

See more about this amazing school.

LGBTQI inclusion in schools increased (a bit) rather than decreased during the marriage equality debate.

* 78% of respondents wanted school to do more.

The table and graph below display the percentage of survey respondents who reported that a school took a particular LGBTQI inclusive action, and when.  As many respondents did not feel comfortable identifying the school they were speaking about, we don't know how many people were reporting for each school. 

That said, there is an increase in almost all items from 2016 to 2017, and some items increase by a substantial amount - which suggests that schools actually became a bit more inclusive, rather than less inclusive as a result of the marriage equality debate in 2017.

What inclusive inclusive actions did people report schools had taken by the end of 2016 and by the end of 2017?

Religious Freedom Review - 92 people used our link to send a submission.

92 people used our link to send an email to the panel, so that the panel was not only receiving the letters that the Australian Christian Lobby was encouraging its followers to send.  

78% of survey respondents said they wanted their school to do more during marriage equality debate.

Did respondents want the school to do more to support and include LGBTQI students and families during marriage equality debate?

• 78% said Yes, 9% said No, 13% said unsure.

 

 

What additional things would they have liked the school to have done?

The main theme in answers to this question was to show additional proactive and visible support for the LGBTQI community (e.g. rainbow flags, posters, supportive statements in newsletters, celebrate days like IDAHOBIT).   Respondents also wanted schools to take an active role in the education of the school community about:

• the harm of anti-LGBTQI attitudes and behaviour, and
• correcting the misinformation in the media about the Safe Schools unit and 'All of Us' program.
• And of course, respondents very much wanted the schools to do these things without LGBTQI families having to ask for it again, and again, and again.

Support Safe Schools - by spending 30 seconds sending an email

(UPDATE 20.07.18 : Links are no longer available)

One of the most effective things you can do right now to support greater LGBTQI+ inclusion in schools, is to write an email to your state's Minister for Education, expressing your support for Safe Schools.  And we've written a template for VIC and NSW, so it can take less than 30 seconds.

Support Safe Schools in NSW.               

Support Safe Schools in VIC. 

If you haven't already, please take the Rainbows in Schools Survey

If you haven't already, please spend 10 minutes doing the Rainbows in Schools Survey, so we can keep growing the bank of ideas about barriers and reduction strategies.  We want to hear from anyone connected to a school in Australia, either as a student, parent/carer or worker in a related area, LGBTQIA+ or ally. 

About the survey

Who answered the survey so far?

Did people want schools to do more?

Barriers and reduction strategies.

What did inclusive actions did schools do in 2016 and 2017?