Feature

Packmoor Ormiston Academy, Stoke-on-Trent, which has been working to tackle gender sterotypes

“ONCE you’ve done the training, it really opens your eyes. You see inequalities everywhere, and you can’t unsee them.”

NEU member Hayley Lockett is a year 4 teacher at Packmoor Ormiston Academy, in Stoke-on-Trent, which is four months into a programme to tackle gender stereotypes in the school environment.

Created by non-profit organisation Lifting Limits, the programme asks staff to look at everything they do through a gender equality lens – considering how resources, the school environment and language might reinforce harmful stereotypes. A champion is appointed at each school – in Packmoor’s case, this is Hayley – who attends a training session by Lifting Limits and then goes back into school to roll out the programme.

Hayley began by asking curriculum leaders to look at their subject – the planning, delivery and content – to see whether gender stereotypes were being reinforced by going unnoticed or not being challenged.

“It empowered them to find areas where we can improve. It’s not only had a positive impact on the children, but on the staff, environment and curriculum, too.”

They discovered that the science, art and history curricula focused predominantly on the achievements of men, sending powerful messages to children about what they might aspire to, or not.

A history timeline, which ran the length of the school corridor, was also heavily male, says Hayley. “Before Lifting Limits, I don’t think we’d have noticed.”

The timeline has been updated with photos and information provided in the Lifting Limits resource pack, highlighting the contributions of women who have previously been neglected.

Invaluable resources about inspirational women

Staff at Fleet Primary School in Camden went through the Lifting Limits programme in 2022. Becca Wall, deputy head teacher, says the resource pack was invaluable. It includes ideas of inspirational women to study, discussion cards, posters, language and playground guides for staff, and lesson plan ideas for years 1 to 6, which tie into the curriculum.

“We found them really easy to incorporate into purposeful learning,” says Becca.

In one lesson children are asked to draw and describe their own non-stereotypical superhero. Among the creations from Fleet Primary students is Alex, who has laser eyes, moves things by magic, is gender fluid and has one arm; and Onyx, a boy whose superpowers are being caring, gentle and kind.

In another lesson, children listen to the story of The Paper Bag Princess, which turns the traditional ‘damsel in distress’ narrative on its head, with the princess rescuing a kidnapped prince. Children discuss what it means to be a princess, exploring the expectations associated with that role.

Never too early to tackle entrenched views

Kirsty Ruthven is an NEU member and head of education at Lifting Limits. She says that expectations are placed on children even before they are born based on their gender or perceived gender – colour coding (pink for a girl and blue for a boy) and segregation of toys and clothes in shops – and it is vital that work begins in the early years to tackle this.

“Anything you do at high school is amazing, but actually you’re unpicking a lot of entrenched views already.”

At Packmoor, nursery staff found these gendered expectations were already hindering boys when they spent several days observing children and discovered boys were not using the reading area. Principal Sharon May says she was shocked to discover the reason.

“It was nicely set up, with lots of bright, colourful books and eventually the nursery teacher asked boys why they weren’t using it. They said: ‘It’s got a pink chair and girls sit on pink chairs.’”

The area has since been changed – along with a number of other learning areas in the school – and has a more neutral colour. “Boys are now accessing the reading area,” says Sharon. “But that could’ve been a year of children choosing not to go in that area.”

Year 2 pupils: ‘Boys are clever, girls are pretty’ Sharon is hoping that the programme will have a positive effect on the children’s career aspirations, which is something they are focusing on this year at Packmoor.

“Stoke-on-Trent is quite a deprived area and low aspiration is a big issue. While we get good results generally, a lot of our children want to be footballers and influencers and there’s been a legacy of children not going on to further education.”

The worry, she says, is that gender stereotypes limit what children think they can be. At the beginning of the programme, a year 2 class, asked whether there were differences between boys and girls, said boys were clever while girls were pretty. continued on page 26