College Champions

The Stonewall College Champions programme provides tailored, one-to-one support and guidance to help further education colleges develop learner-centred strategies to challenge homophobic bullying and celebrate difference.

This is a bolt-on enhancement for colleges who are members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme, Britain’s good practice forum for employers on sexual orientation in the workplace. The College Champions programme builds on the good work that colleges are already doing with staff through the Diversity Champions Programme by offering a range of tools, resources and support to improve the learner experience for students who are lesbian, gay or bisexual.

Colleges which are part of the programme work with us and each other to address homophobic bullying and promote a safe and welcoming learning environment for all their students.

Click here to download the College Champions registration form.

Key benefits of being a College Champion

Comprehensive needs assessment to help you build a strategy to challenge homophobic bullying and celebrate difference amongst students in your college.
Additional Stonewall point of contact in the Education team for support and guidance.
Tailored pack of Stonewall’s education resources to start anti-homophobic bullying work in your college.
One free half day of continuing professional development a year.
Free access to our good practice education seminars to hear and share best practice with others doing similar work.
Priority and discounted registration for Stonewall’s annual Education for All conference.
Regular updates from us and other members including eBulletins and early access to new education resources, Stonewall research and good practice guides.
Networking opportunities with other colleges from across the country engaged in anti-homophobia and diversity work.
Joint branding including exclusive use of the Stonewall College Champions logo for internal and external communications.

Why join the College Champions programme?

Homophobic bullying impacts on students’ achievement and attainment
The School Report, a survey of more than 1,600 secondary school and college students, found that three in five gay young people who had experienced homophobic bullying said this had an impact on their work, and even one in three gay pupils who haven’t been bullied don’t feel they are achieving their best. This means that if colleges aren’t tackling homophobic bullying and creating a supportive environment for gay students, then many of their students will fail to reach their potential and underperform. All colleges want to get the best out of their students, and working with Stonewall to create a learning environment free from homophobic bullying is a key step towards doing that.
Homophobic bullying deters talent
Many gay young people considering further education will have experienced homophobic bullying earlier in their studies, and a third of gay students change their future educational plans, for instance not applying to college or university, because they fear homophobic bullying will continue. Research by the Skills Funding Agency has found similar concerns amongst a number of adult learners.
For these reasons gay students are most attracted to those providers who are proactive in promoting diversity and creating a supportive learning environment. The College Champions programme is designed to help you do just that, addressing common concerns and enabling you to recruit from the best talent in terms of students and staff.
Ofsted expect colleges to be doing this work
The new Ofsted inspection framework for further education and skills, which came into effect in September 2012, measures what colleges are doing to make sure all students receive appropriate and timely information, advice and guidance which supports learning effectively and how equality and diversity are promoted through teaching and learning. Ofsted are also now looking at what colleges are doing to narrow achievement gaps between different groups of learners and to what extent learners develop personal, social and employability skills. Combatting homophobic bullying must be a key part of all of this. Stonewall’s College Champions programme helps to support colleges in fulfilling Ofsted criteria.
Colleges have a duty to protect all students
One in five lesbian, gay and bisexual college students experience homophobic bullying and 99 per cent hear the phrases ‘that’s so gay’ or ‘you’re so gay’ in college. The Skills Funding Agency found a quarter of 19-21 year-olds had experienced bullying in adult learning due to their sexual orientation and a significant proportion of gay students don’t feel safe in their learning. Students reported particular problems with bullying in practical work within the classroom or tasks in work based learning. Through working with Stonewall you can make sure that you are protecting and supporting all of your students regardless of sexual orientation.
The Equality Act requires further education colleges to take proactive action
The public sector Equality Duty means all colleges need to tackle issues such as homophobic bullying, discrimination and harassment and set equality objectives for the college. The programme helps colleges to design, set and meet these objectives.

Frequently Asked Questions

We’re already members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme. Why should we become Stonewall College Champions as well?
Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme supports employers to create a workplace where staff feel able to be themselves and perform to their full potential. The College Champions programme focuses on the student experience, providing colleges with tools and resources that take a student-centred approach to tackling homophobic bullying, improving student outcomes and providing an inclusive curriculum.

We’re not members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme. Can we still become College Champions?
No. This is a bolt-on package, designed to complement the Diversity Champions programme. Colleges need to have the right policies and procedures in place to support their employees, in order to effectively support students and develop strategies for tackling homophobia and celebrating difference. If your college is not a Diversity Champion, you can join both programmes at the same time.

We have a very limited budget. How can I justify the additional expense?
We recognise the financial pressures facing the further education sector, which is why we have worked with FE colleges to design a programme that meets your needs while keeping costs down. The programme will centre on improving student outcomes by promoting a positive learning environment, as well as helping you to comply with the public sector Equality Duty and meet inspection criteria. What’s more, the long term cost of not dealing with homophobic bullying in your college, in terms of the impact on student attainment and deterring of talent far outweighs the cost of the programme at just £550+VAT.

How much extra work will joining the programme create?
We will work with you to develop a work plan that meets your requirements. It is designed to enhance the work your college is undertaking in the areas of quality improvement and enhancement, teaching and learning, anti-bullying, community cohesion and student safety.

We’re a sixth form college. Can we join the College Champions programme?
Depending on the size of your institution, the range of courses you provide and the range of students you work with, the College Champions programme may or may not be appropriate for you. Stonewall’s School Champions programme is open to any primary, secondary or middle school as well as Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) and some sixth form colleges. Speak to a member of Stonewall’s education team to discuss the best package of support for your sixth form.

How do we access whole-staff training?
Being a member of Stonewall’s College Champions programme enables you to receive one half-day of high quality staff training a year at no additional cost. The training includes how to prevent and tackle homophobic bullying and homophobic language amongst students, how to celebrate difference and include lesbian, gay and bisexual people across your curriculum.

What resources are available to create a supportive learning environment?
Our resources for colleges include our feature length DVD FIT which provides a great base for starting discussions around sexual orientation and homophobic bullying. Our Some People Are Gay. Get Over It! materials can be used to visibly highlight a college's commitment to tackling homophobic bullying, create a positive environment throughout the college and used to facilitate discussion amongst students. They are also available to download in a range of languages including Chinese, French, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili and Welsh. These and Stonewall’s Visitors’ Guides, also available in a range of languages, and are particularly appropriate for ESOL learners.

Costs

All this support is available for just £550+VAT a year.

The College Champions programme is a bolt-on package for members of Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme, Britain’s leading employers’ forum on sexual orientation. Membership of Diversity Champions costs £2500+VAT a year. The cost to enhance your package of support by joining the College Champions programme is an additional £3050+ VAT per year.

Joining

Joining the College Champions programme is very easy. Simply download and complete the registration form below and email it back to collegechampions@stonewall.org.uk. Our Finance team will then process your membership payment and a member of the Education team will contact you to schedule your initial meeting.

College Champions registration form.

You can also sign up directly to Diversity Champions through this form if you aren’t already a member.

Download the terms & conditions for Diversity Champions membership.

Find out more about Stonewall’s Diversity Champions programme.

If you have any questions or would like to speak to a member of our team before applying please email collegechampions@stonewall.org.uk or telephone on 020 7593 1859.