LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender. The “plus” represents other sexual identities.

At Orchard Therapeutic Farm we celebrate that our children come from different families. We know that like many other provisions in the UK, some children have a mum and a dad, some children live with just one parent, some children live with their grandparents and some children have two mums or two dads.

In 2018, almost 250,000 people in London identified as Lesbian, Gay or Bisexual and there are now at least 20,000 children growing up in same-sex parent families. Many children will have or know relatives, family friends or neighbours who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Trans. It is important to us at OTF that we represent different families in our community as we know that children who see their families reflected around the centre will grow up to be confident, respectful and successful citizens.

In order to prepare children for the diverse society they live in and to prevent bullying and discrimination, it is important to talk about difference in general and different families in particular. At OTF, the children learn about and celebrate different family structures primarily through our PSHE  and during our celebration of LGBT+ History Month. In addition, our farm library is stocked with books that represent different family structures and some of the texts we use within our Functional skills English lessons feature an LGBT character. All children are encouraged to talk positively about their own and each other’s families and the centre does not tolerate any homophobic, biophobic or transphobic language.