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Celebrate Pride Month (and beyond)
Pride Month, celebrated in June each year, is a great opportunity to promote important values for children including respect, kindness, inclusion and diversity, all central to the PSHE curriculum. It is vital that, as teachers, we educate children about diverse families from a young age to create a safe and inclusive environment for children in school and in our community. I have included age appropriate, fun and easy ways to celebrate pride in school this month. Book suggestions are also included, as it is essential that children see themselves and their families reflected in what they read. LGBTQ+ characters allow children to gain an understanding of empathy and the perspective of others who are different from them.
Early Years
- Family Photographs
- Celebrate the many different family structures that make up our society including those with two mums, two dads, or LGBTQ+ carers. This can be done by asking children to bring in a photograph of their family and then discussing how we are all different.
- Pride Flags
- Introduce the LGBTQ+ flags into the creative area to symbolise diversity and inclusion. You can talk about how the rainbow colours evoke a sense of hope and togetherness in the community.
- Self Portraits
- Use mirrors to allow children to view and talk about themselves and draw self-portraits. This is a great way of opening conversations about children’s individuality.
- “The World Made a Rainbow” by Michelle Robinson
- “Remixed: An Inspiring story about our families” by Arree Chung
- “Pink Is for Boys” by Robb Pearlman
Key Stage 1
- Inclusive Texts
- Use a focus book in Literacy such as “And Tango Makes Three” or “Julian is a Mermaid” to start conversations about different families, acceptance, and being yourself.
- Kindness Tree
- Children can write kind things they have seen or done for others on leaves and contribute to building a giant class family tree for a display.
- Pride Parade
- Children can create banners, flags and posters to use in a parade in the playground to celebrate love, friendship and inclusion for everyone. Families can be included in this too.
- “Uncle Bobby’s Wedding” by Sarah S. Brennen
- “And Tango Makes Three” by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell
- “My Shadow is Pink” by Scott Stuart
Key Stage 2
- Stonewall
- Teach children about the important history of the LGBTQ+ community and its impact today. Stonewall: A Building, An Uprising, A Revolution” by Rob Sanders.
- Proud to be me!
- Children can write about why they are proud of themselves and what qualities make them unique and why this should be celebrated. Children can share this in an assembly to celebrate their individuality.
- Pride Quiz
- Learn about LGPTQ+ history and host a fun and informative quiz including Pride symbols, and key figures (Marsha P. Johnson and Alan Turing).
- Rainbow Fashion Show
- Ask children to come to school in rainbow colours or a favourite outfit that best represents them. Use this opportunity to prompt discussions about the choices we make as individuals to express ourselves in society.
- Charity Fundraising
- Children can research LGBTQ+ charities and learn about the important work they do. Each class can select a charity to raise money for – cake sales, afterschool talent shows, and coffee mornings are great ways to raise money.
Introduce Pride Ambassadors
- Each class can select children to meet with staff to ensure equality and diversity is reflected in their everyday school life. Create and display inclusive posters and materials around the school to promote the use of inclusive language.
- “The Bolds” by Julian Clary
- “Stonewall: A Building, An Uprising, A Revolution” by Rob Sanders
- “Jamie: A Joyful Story of Friendship, Bravery & Acceptance” by L.D Lapinkski
“Be who you are because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind”
