London Pride Signs

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/london-pride-tube-and-bus-stops-decorated-with-rainbows-for-this-years-lgbt-fortnight-a3571336.html

Major tube stations and bus stops in London have been given rainbow colours to raise awareness about people who are LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender). The campaign supports London Pride on 8th July, This year Pride is marking 50 years since a law was passed to say being gay was no longer a crime in the UK.

The Lord Mayor of London Sadiq Khan says, "Here in London you are free to love whoever you want to love and be whoever you want to be." 

The Pride organisers say they are promoting a message of "hope, acceptance, activism and love."

The first official pride march was in 1972 when 2000 people attended. Last year Pride saw 40,000 people attend the march with 1 million people coming to London to watch and support.

What do you see in the picture?
Where is the photo taken?
What do you notice about the sign?

- What is the Pride event about?
- Why do many cities and towns hold Pride events?
- Why do you think London has decided to paint tube signs in rainbow colours?
- What message do the signs give to visitors?
- How do you think a person who is LGBT feels when they see the rainbow coloured tube sign?
- The sign says, "Love is love" what does this mean?
- Why does the Lord Mayor say in London you can love who you want?
- What can we learn from London and this story?
- Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders in our school: teaching the Equality Act in primary schools by Andrew Moffat

equalitiesprimary

Gender neutral uniforms

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/schoolboys-isca-academy-exeter-skirts-uniform-rules_uk_594b9520e4b01cdedf00a147?ir=UK+Parents

Over 30 boys at a secondary school in Exeter chose to wear skirts to school in protest against a rule that said they were not allowed to wear shorts.

The boys wore the skirts on the hottest day of the year. The school uniform policy states male students must wear trousers while female students are allowed to choose between grey trousers or a tartan skirt.

The boys received a huge amount of support on twitter. One person said, "The boys make me feel optimistic about future generations."

Following the protest the school chose to allow boys to wear shorts during the summer. 

What's happening in the picture?

Who do you see?

Explain the story

- Why do you think the school did not want boys to wear shorts?

- Why do you think girls were given a choice between trousers and a skirt?

- Is this school demonstrating equality?

- Why do some schools make boys and girls wear different clothes?

- What could schools do to solve this and make the situation fair for everyone?

- What does gender neutral mean? (it means something is common to both male and female genders)

- Could schools have gender neutral school uniform polices? What would that mean? (It would mean uniforms were not based on gender. Children could choose what they wanted to wear within the uniform)

- Could our school have a gender neutral uniform policy?

- Why is this story about no outsiders?

- What can we learn from the boys at this school?

"No Outsiders in our school: Teaching the equality act in primary schools" by Andrew Moffat

equalitiesprimary

Finsbury Park Vigil

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/finsbury-park-vigil-hundreds-flowers_uk_59484b99e4b0cddbb008e409

Less than 24 hours after an attack outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, hundreds of people visited the scene to lay flowers and show unity.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said, "We are a strong city and after this we are going to show we are stronger, more united. One of the things that all these terrorists share is a perverse ideology that wants to divide our community - we're not going to let them."

What do you see in the picture?
Where do you think it was taken?

Explain the story

- What do you notice about the people in the photo- are people the same ethnicity, gender, age?
- Do you think everyone in the photo shares the same religion?
- Do you think there are people in the crowd with disabilities?
- Do you think there are gay, lesbian, bisexual, trangender, straight people in the crowd?
- What does this photo demonstrate about the UK today?
- Why does the mayor say, "We are stronger, more united"?
- What can we learn from the people in this photo?
- Why is this about no outsiders?

Note: When talking about tragic events such as terror attacks to young people, explain that we know not everyone agrees with us and no outsiders. Some people want one race, one faith, one kind of person It's the opposite to us; we want lots of different races, different religions, different kinds of people. This photo of the vigil in London demonstrates that many many people agree with us. That's why it is so important that we spread our no outsiders message and keep talking about it. If you meet someone who doesn't understand about diversity and difference, talk to them.

equalitiesprimary

Community cohesion in London

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-40271663

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/14/community-centres-churches-overwhelmed-donations-grenfell-tower/

People from different communities across London have been offering food, shelter, clothing and support to those affected by the terrible tragedy at Grenfell Tower last week where 58 people lost their lives and hundreds were made homeless..

Churches, mosques and gurdwaras opened their doors to provide space for those needing shelter. Hundreds of bags of food, clothing and water poured in to the centres from people in the community. Fitness centres, local businesses and a primary school also offered tea and shelter. 

The Telegraph reported, " Volunteers from the Muslim Aid charity collected and distributed donations alongside Anglican and Sikh volunteers."

Some collection centres had so many donations they had to stop accepting contributions. 

What is happening in the picture?

Who do you see? What are they doing?

Explain the story

- What do you notice about the people in the photo?

- How are the people similar, how are they different? 

- What is the aim for the person offering food?

- Is the person offering food worried about the faith or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, disabilities of the people taking the food?

- what does this picture show about community cohesion in the UK today?

- What can we learn from the places of worship opening their doors to people of different faith?

- What can we learn from the community response to this tragedy?

- Why is this about No Outsiders?

Our thoughts are with all those affected by this tragedy.

equalitiesprimary

No Outsiders in Parliament

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/09/labour-success-sees-increase-number-disabled-mps/

Marsha de Cordova became an MP on Thursday night when she was voted to serve for Battersea. Jared O'Mara also became an MP, wining his seat in Sheffield Hallam.

Marsha is registered blind and in her acceptance speech said, "As a visually impaired person myself I feel passionately about the rights of disabled people. Accessibility in our public places and on public transport still falls short of what is reasonable. I will use my time in parliament to lobby for improvements in these areas.In the fifth richest country in the word there can be no excuse for leaving behind a large number of our citizens"

Jared has Cerebral Palsey Hemiparesis. Jared told an interviewer, "Having a disability can make us more passionate, resilient, empathetic, and hard working than non-disabled candidates by virtue of everything being harder for us in life."

"I feel that every disabled candidate, whatever the party, could be better supported by the powers that be and more should be done to get disabled people with a wide range of disabilities in to public life."

- What do you see in the picture?
- Who do you think the people are?

Explain the story

- Why do you think people voted for Marsha and Jared? (because people thought they were the best candidates)
- What does Marsha mean by "accessibility in our public places"?
- What makes a place inaccessible?
- What sort of changes can make a place accessible?
- What does Marsha mean by 'large numbers of people are being left behind'?
- Why do you think Jared said life is harder for a person with disabilities?
- How do you think Jared and Marsha will change the Houses of Parliament?
- What is the law in the UK that protects people with disabilities? (Equality Act 2010)
- What other groups are protected in the Equality Act?
- What can we learn from Marsha and Jared?
- Why is this about No Outsiders?

No Outsiders in our school: Teaching the Equality Act in primary schools by Andrew Moffat

equalitiesprimary


-

Democracy in the UK

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/09/jeremy-corbyn-theresa-may-tim-farron-photobombed-rival-candidates/

Prime Minister Theresa May was elected to serve the Maidenhead constituency in the 2017 general election this week, winning 37,718 votes. She won 64% of the vote; Labour came second with 11,261 votes.

In the UK we live in a democracy which means anyone can stand for election. Twelve people stood against Theresa May in Maidenhead, asking people to vote for them.  These included Lord Buckethead, who ended up in 7th place with 249 votes and 0.4% of the vote. On twitter Lord Buckethead proclaimed to be an "Intergalactic space lord". Following the result Lord Buckethead tweeted, "249! A new Buckethead record! Something to celebrate eh?"

Other candidates standing in the election around the country included "Mr Fish Finger" in Westmorland and Lonsdale where the leader of the Liberal Democrat party won with 23,686 votes. Mr Fishfinger came 4th (out of 4 candidates) with 309 votes. Following the election Mr Fishfinger tweeted, "Absolutely shattered walking back to hotel for a few hours in the freezer then off to London in the afternoon. Thanks everyone."

What's happening in the picture?
Do you recognise anyone?
Where is the photo taken?

Explain the story

-What is a democracy?
-What is an election for?
- 37,469 more people voted for Theresa May than voted for Lord Buckethead; why?
- Do you think Lord Buckethead and Mr Fishfinger wanted to win?
- Why do you think Mr Fishfinger and Lord Buckethead stood for election?
- Some people voted for either Mr Fishfinger or Lord Buckethead. Did their votes count? Why?
- Why did Mr Fishfinger tweet about spending a few hours in a freezer?
- Should Lord Buckethead and Mr Fishfinger be allowed to take part in elections? What would happen if they won?
- What does this story demonstrate about democracy in the UK?
- Why is this about No Outsiders?

"No Outsiders in our school: teaching the Equality Act in Primary Schools" by Andrew Moffat

equalitiesprimary

Sofa for London

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-40149058

Following the tragic attack in London on Saturday night where 7 people were killed, Holly and Mary gave their spare room to a stranger, George, who was stranded in the city for the night. People all over London used twitter and #sofaforlondon to offer shelter, food and comfort to anyone who needed help. 

Taxi drivers offered free rides, places of worship across many faiths, pubs, hotels and businesses offered food and shelter.

Holly and Mary tweeted that strangers who had nowhere else to stay could come to their house. Mary, from Nottingham, said; "If I had been in that situation I would want to know that people were going to open up their homes."

Holly, from Birmingham, said; "You have to give whatever you can, whenever you can."

Staff at the Royal Oak Pun nearby gave shelter to 150 people during the night. Barman, Radek, said, "There were families with children, people were pretty shocked. A lot of them didn't speak English, they were foreigners visiting."

Another tweet called out to anyone caught up in the terror attacks; "Tea, salt and vinegar crisps and comfy cushions. All the essentials #sofaforlondon"

What do you see in the picture
What's do you think is happening?
Say the photo was taken in London at the weekend

explain the story

- Why are Holly and Mary offering a room in their house to a stranger?
- Why was George stranded in London?
- How do you think George felt when he found Holly and Mary?
- Did Holly and Mary say, "We only want Christian people in our house" or, "Only white people"? Why not? (Mary and Holly just want to help; they don't care if someone is black, white, different faith, culture etc)
- Hundreds of people offered rooms and food to strangers. What does this show about lots of people in London?
- The Royal Oak Pub sheltered 150 people, many of whom didn't speak English. What does this show us about staff at the pub and what they think about diversity and difference?
- What can we learn from the people of London?
- Why is this story about No Outsiders?

Our thoughts are with all those affected in this tragic event.

Note: When talking about tragic events such as terror attacks to young people, explain that not everyone agrees with us and no outsiders. Some people want one race, one faith, one kind of person It's the opposite to us; we want lots of different races, different religions, different kinds of people. The tweets and the examples of people offering shelter in this story from London demonstrates that many many people agree with us. That's why it is so important that we spread our no outsiders message and keep talking about it. If you meet someone who doesn't understand about diversity and difference, talk to them.