Ian Timbrell is the founder of More Than Flags and Rainbows, a not-for-profit organisation helping make education settings more inclusive, from Early Years settings up. Ian has 20 years of experience in education, including as an ICT Advisor and a Deputy Head Teacher. In fact, one of Ian’s previous schools (that he worked in, not attended!) was the first Primary School in Wales to achieve the Proud Trust's Rainbow Award. Ian himself has won the Mental Health and Wellbeing Award in 2023 for his work with schools.
The quality of inclusive resources, particularly books, matters as much as their representational content. Ian says educatros should ask themselvews, "If a story still works when the diverse family is replaced with a straight, white, British family, it is a good book?" If not, it should be removed.
Ian recommends books like "Rainbosaurus" where diverse families exist naturally in the story without being the focus, and "The Marvellous Creatures" about a goth unicorn who hates pink. Ian's philosophy is, "don't teach about diversity, teach with diversity."
More Than Flags and Rainbows maintains a searchable list of 300 diverse books that grows based on direct requests from teachers.
Ian observed that many Early Years activirtes, designed to support LGBTQ+ inclusion, just weren't achieving that aim. Activities like Pride colouring sheets have no educational benefit, as you migth as well be colouring anyhting else. Ian explains that he's "a teacher, not an activist" who priorities developmentally appropriate practice.
"And don't do drag queen story hour!" says Ian, "Now, I'm a big fan of drag queen story hour. I have a friend who does it called Ada HD, which I think is an amazing drag name as he has ADHD. Drag queen story hour has a place in libraries, in Pride events, things like that. But I don't feel they have place in education setting because the drag queen comes in, quickly reads a story, and goes. Actually, what are they bringing that's different?"
Early Years educators frequently feel unprepared when children ask direct questions about identity or family diversity. This fear of getting it wrong can lead to avoidance or unhelpful deflection. Ian recommends educators:
1. Pause
2. Give a calm and age-appropriate response
3. Follow up transparently with parents.
Ian advises educators to breathe, avoid panicking in front of children, and feel empowered to say "I'm going to think about that and come back to you."
"It is better to wait and give a thoughtful response than word vomit something out that you're going to regret later," explains Ian, "After that, it's about thinking, what was it about that question that made you panic? Was it that you don't really know how to explain it to children that age? As a staff, do you need to have a conversation about what vocabulary and explanations we use? Is it that actually you have a feeling that this shouldn't be discussed? Do you need to have a chat as a staff team about age-appropriateness? Have you practiced this?"
But actually, explains Ian, the answer is often really simple.
"All you need to do to a child of that age says, 'What does the word gay mean?' is say to them, 'Well, some children have two mummies or two daddies, and that just means they're gay.'"
Of course, not all gay people are 'mummies' or 'daddies', but Ian explains that it helps to anchor your explanation in something the child is familiar with, in this case, a family.
"Start with what is in the child's world," says Ian, "What's in the child's world? Family! Family and home. That is where we need to go with it because that is where the cognitive understanding is. That's what they can relate to."
Inclusion should be visible and embedded throughout a setting's environment and communications before families even walk through the door, rather than confined to a dedicated display or one-off event. Displays and resources that segregate diversity into dedicated 'corners' signal that diverse identities are exceptional rather than normal, which undermines inclusion.
Educators shouldn't be nervous to proactively ask families about the language and structures that reflect their home life. This is particularly relevant for children in foster care or adoption.
"It's fine to say 'mummy and daddy' or 'mum and dad' or 'daddy and daddy', when you know that what that child has at home," says Ian, "I went through a 3-year adoption process to become a dad. People should be able to call me dad!"
When colleagues or challenge inclusive practice, engaging them through questions rather than direct confrontation is more effective, as it encourages self-reflection and avoids un-winnable debates.
For parents, Ian recommends a structured four-step script.
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