Wikipedia

Elly Barnes

Elly Barnes MBE FCCT is the founder and chief executive of the charity Educate & Celebrate.[1] Barnes was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2016 for her contribution to education, equality and diversity.[2]

Elly Barnes
Born
Leicestershire, England
OccupationCEO
OrganizationEducate & Celebrate

Education edit

Barnes attended Market Bosworth High School and then completed a degree in music, specialising in opera, at the Birmingham Conservatoire.[3] She completed her Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) at the University of Birmingham.[3] She had her Newly qualified teacher (NQT) year at The Barclay School in Stevenage[3] whilst studying for a Diploma in Music Technology at Hertfordshire University. Barnes completed an MA in inclusive education at Goldsmiths University.[4]

Early LGBT+ work edit

Barnes first job was as a peripatetic singing teacher in Hertfordshire and London. She then obtained a permanent teaching role at Stoke Newington School in North London becoming Head of Year in 2005. That year, she began working towards eradicating homophobic, biphobic, and transphobic language and bullying.[3] The approach taken was to educate young people about different gender identities and sexual orientations by introducing recognisable symbols of the LGBT+ community, famous LGBT+ people and the history of the LGBT+ struggle. The project developed into a school-wide celebration of LGBT+ History Month with an integrated curriculum.[5]

Educate & Celebrate edit

In 2010 Barnes developed her theory and practice into the ‘Educate & Celebrate’ [6] PRIDE in Inclusion Award which incorporates teacher training, coaching and mentoring alongside a comprehensive resource programme to support schools, colleges, universities and organisations to build a future of inclusion and social justice.

After being listed at the top of The Independent on Sunday Rainbow List in 2011, Barnes developed the Educate & Celebrate program into full-time work.[7] In 2012, she was also hired by the Birmingham City Council as an LGBT advisor for schools, and began distributing Educate and Celebrate curriculum for secondary schools as well as curriculum designed by Andrew Moffat for primary schools.[8][9]

As part of the Educate & Celebrate campaign against discrimination, Barnes was invited to a Boarding Schools Association conference in 2015, and during her presentation, she advocated for staff training, updated equal opportunity and anti-bullying policies, expanded curriculum, and gender neutral uniform policies to help address discrimination against LGBT students.

Selected works edit

  • In 2018, Barnes and Anna Carlile published How to Transform Your School into an LGBT+ Friendly Place (Jessica Kingsley: ISBN 978-1785923494), a book suggesting best practices for school policies about bullying and equal opportunities.[10]
  • ABC Pride, by Louie Stowell and Elly Barnes, illustrated by Amy Phelps (DK Children: ISBN 978-0241572542)[11]

Honours and awards edit

References edit

  1. ^ Spratt, Sasha (5 July 2017). "Pride in London: meet the activist changing attitudes to LGBTQ+ people one school at a time". Evening Standard. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honour's 2016: Education and Children's Services". Gov.uk.
  3. ^ a b c d Drabble, Emily (17 February 2013). "How I built a career in LGBT+ education". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Dr Ellen Barnes MBE". Goldsmiths, University of London. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  5. ^ Learner, Sue (26 October 2010). "Making Homophobia History". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  6. ^ "Home * Educate & Celebrate". Educate & Celebrate.
  7. ^ Guest, Katy (19 March 2016). "The Rainbow List: Sixteen years on, the pioneering work continues". The Independent. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  8. ^ Williams, Rachel (11 November 2014). "The primary headteacher attacked for trying to tackle homophobia". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  9. ^ McKinney, Emma (30 January 2015). "Lessons in gay and lesbian values welcomed by pupils at Allens Croft Primary School in Kings Heath". BirminghamLive. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  10. ^ Goalby, Neil (3 June 2023). "Transform your school into an LGBT-friendly place". Royal Society of Chemistry. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  11. ^ Rudolph, Dana (17 June 2022). "10 new kids' books about Pride are my faves among the many new titles". Dallas Voice. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  12. ^ "The Independent on Sunday Pink List 2011". The Independent on Sunday. 23 October 2011.
  13. ^ a b "Champion of LGBT+ inclusion 'gobsmacked' to receive MBE". Hackney Citizen. 17 June 2016. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  14. ^ Drabble, Emily (8 December 2013). "Sexual orientation – news and teaching resources round up". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Judy Murray and Nicky Campbell among those to be awarded honorary degrees by University of Aberdeen". News: The University of Aberdeen. 18 November 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  16. ^ "DIVA Award Winners". myGwork. 12 June 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2023.

External links edit

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