Nicky Morgan: ‘I want young Attitude readers to know we’re on their side’

LGBT bullying in schools is a major, unresolved issue in our community – one which can damage, and even end the lives of kids who are still discovering their own identities. As the government’s Education Secretary, and Minister for Women and Equalities, the subject falls firmly onto the desk of Nicky Morgan, who has awarded almost £2 million pounds to various charities to help tackle LGBT bullying, and who visited a Stonewall Champion School last week to mark Pride weekend.

Still, many believe it’s not enough. Guidelines for Sex and Relationships Education in schools haven’t been updated since 2000, and they are just guidelines. The Education Committee said in February that there is “overwhelming demand for statutory sex and relationships education from teachers, parents and young people themselves,” something which Morgan has a responsibility to produce.  And as a minister for equalities, who previously voted against same sex marriage, can she really be trusted to enact the changes needed?

Words: Ben Kelly

You’ve been marking Pride this weekend – what does Pride mean to you?

Well I think it’s our opportunity to show just how proud we are of the LGBT community but also to celebrate the fact that we have, I hope, a very tolerant society, and I know it doesn’t mean there are no problems, but we have come a long way. And it’s also a great opportunity for a great day out.

UKIP were banned from the march, but turned up anyway. Do you think they should have been permitted to march?

Well I think that’s a matter for the organisers to take a position on that. I think it’s important that people are able to show their support, but who takes part is very much a matter for the organisers. I think the important thing is the tens of thousands of people who were there showing their support for the LGBT community.

Last week you visited a Stonewall Champion School in Coventry. What makes a school like that stand out?

Well I think it was really interesting, I did a round table with a number of pupils, and two things stood out for me. One was that there was a whole school approach of being intolerant of bullying in any form, there was a culture of it, and there were Stonewall posters up and the feeling was, we accept everybody. The other thing was that pupils had a very clear idea of where to go if there were problems, and swift action was taken, so they could talk to their peers, their form tutors, and they also had cards which said who they could go to, and also an anonymous email address you could contact, with someone there on the other end for you, if they were experiencing problems.

The more schools who get involved in this scheme the better, but how do you plan to reach those children who are in schools which will not be engaged with Stonewall, or any of the charities you have funded with this £2 million?

Well I hope that interviews like this and elsewhere will show that we take this very seriously, and we do want schools to get involved, and put people up to be trained by the organisation. I think it’s also important that there are Stonewall organisations that young people are able to talk to, support groups, often done by the internet, where they can get support if they’re not getting it locally. I would like it to be tackled in teacher training too. We’re talking about homophobic bullying here, but bullying in all its forms is something that all members of staff in all schools have an obligation to ensure does not happen.

You say it’s an obligation, but what is actually set in stone that they must do?

There is an element – it’s sort of mixed in how it’s covered in terms of teacher training, so I think we could be clearer. It also ties in partly with the work around behaviour, because it ties into a whole culture in the school and that comes down from leadership, and that is that we’re a tolerant community, we support everybody, and we are introducing a new initial teacher training curriculum and this will be a part of that.

Last week Andy Burnham said that homophobic bullying has to be tackled by “absolutely compulsory” SRE, which is taught with “absolute equality in terms of all relationships.” Do you agree with that?

Well I do, and I think we do teach sex and relationships education, it is compulsory for maintained schools from the age of 11. Most other school from the age of 11 will cover it as well. I certainly think that same sex relationships must be part of that, and actually when I go and talk to schools up and down the country, and I often ask primary schools how they will address these issues, and they will talk about relationships and families and understanding people who have got same sex parents, different cultures, and schools will do this as well. So it’s very important that these things are being taught. Back in March I announced working with the PSHE association about having a quality mark for the lesson planning that they suggest.

In February the Education Committee called for SRE to be given statutory status in all schools, are you going to do that?

Well we’re going to report, and we’re due to report back to the Education Select Committee very shortly in fact, on that. Look, when I think back to my speech in March, it’s also about a wider curriculum for life. I think if we get very focused on just talking about sex education – it’s got to about wider relationships, it’s about mental health, it’s about teaching young people the skills to be understanding, it’s about equality as well. I think all of that’s important, and we’ll be making that case in our response to the Select Committee.

How soon can we expect that?

Well it is due by the end of this month, and we are working on it literally as we speak.

You speak about the wider curriculum there – when you consider very modern issues such as cyber bullying, Snapchat, sending naked photos, don’t you think there needs to be a fundamental rethink about the modern world we’re educating our children for?

I talk very much about schools preparing young people for life in modern Britain, and life in the 21^st century, you’re absolutely right. E-safety is now an important part of the computing programme at all 4 key stages, that means from primary upwards. And I think the whole thing about keeping yourself safe both online and offline is important. I think it goes back to this wider curriculum for life, giving young people the skills and resilience to deal with what can be a very complicated world to grow up in, and allowing schools and teachers the confidence and the tools to be able to discuss these topics.

What about instances where you’ve got schools which don’t have very receptive teachers, or indeed faith schools, which won’t want to deal with LGBT issues, how do you break down those barriers?

I don’t think we should say certain types of schools have a problem, I think there might be certain individual schools, or people working within those individual schools, but we’ve been very clear that all teachers must teach the law. So for example, in a secondary maintained school, sex and relationship education is compulsory, and those teachers are able to talk about their own views, but they must be clear that the law, for example, allows same sex marriages now, and I think that actually most people up and down the country will teach this broad and balanced curriculum. Now Ofsted of course, do inspect on this basis, so they will be looking to make sure pupils are free from bullying, harassment, discrimination, and they will also be looking to see there is a broad and balanced curriculum taught, and Ofsted have also looked at PSHE teaching as well.

You mention same sex marriage there, and of course you voted against this in 2013, but said in 2014 that you’d changed your mind and would now vote differently if you had the chance. How can we trust someone who does one thing, and says another?

Well I would say people should judge me on my action, and I think that we, as a government, have a clear plan for continuing the work on LGBT equality. We’re working through the government policy’s office at the moment. The staff of the parliament think it’s a great opportunity to work out how we can build on the achievements of the last five years and capitalise on the fact that we are number one in terms of LGBT equality, and we’re going to work with all the different stake holder groups on that. So as I say, I hope people will judge me on what I’m doing as minister, not on the basis of one particular vote.

Although we now have same sex marriage, and many LGBT adults can now live more free and open lives, do you appreciate that there are many young people who don’t yet feel those effects, and can still feel quite isolated?

Well I do, and whether that young person is reading Attitude, or anything else, I want them to know that we are on their side, we want to crack down on any bullying or discrimination that they should face in their schools, and that there are support mechanisms out there, because I do appreciate that if you’re growing up, and you know that you’re gay, but you don’t know who to turn to, that can be quite difficult, and of course I don’t want people turning to self harm, or excluding themselves from education. That’s why we put this £2 million into tackling homophobic bullying, through some great groups who are carrying that forward.