A onetime student at the Bolton School was joined on stage by his former teacher to discuss the homophobic abuse he suffered as a student.

Hadley Stewart attended Bolton School between 2007 and 2014 and says he struggled with homophobic bullying during his time there.

Mr Stewart, now a freelance journalist and broadcaster, says he found solace in his A-level English classroom, supported by his English teacher at the time, Naomi Lord.

“She was one of few teachers to speak openly about LGBTQ+ people positively and include content in her teaching that represented LGBTQ+ people,” he said.

“I know speaking with other former students, she helped a number of LGBTQ+ students during her time there.”

The two were reunited earlier this month at the Festival of Education, the UK's largest professional development event for educators, where they delivered a session entitled 'A Decade of Lessons: in conversation with a gay student and his former teacher'.

The pair discussed Hadley’s experiences at school, in front of an audience made up of teachers from across the country.

The Bolton News: Hadley Stewart on stage at the Festival of Education Hadley Stewart on stage at the Festival of Education

He said: “We spoke about the importance of positive representations of LGBTQ+ people in schools, and how teachers of LGBTQ+ students today could support them.”

Now the director of creative learning and partnerships for the Bolton School Foundation, Naomi Lord, says that it is important for role models such as herself to step up to help people understand and accept their identities.

“Personally, it is natural to extend time to listen to others and to offer support on a one-to-one level,” she said.

“Kindness and generosity in taking the time to understand are within everyone's reach.

"However, when it is within your means to do more and there is the opportunity to, I believe it is important to step up.

“Moreover, where there is not an obvious opportunity to advocate for an inclusive and welcoming environment, that is the most important time to act.”

She added: “It's notoriously both difficult and wonderful to be a teenager.

"These are the years in which you really begin to explore who you are, to establish tastes, interests and increasingly independent forms of social connection and expression.

“The teen brain has lots of plasticity, which means it can change, adapt and respond to its environment readily.

"When fledgling forms of personal expression are met with negative responses, this is felt all the more readily too.

“What is essential is that we foster empathetic and inclusive communities that allow young people to explore their individuality in a spectrum of personal differences.

"Where this is not the case, being different can be misunderstood and met with intolerance.”

Miss Lord believes that mainstream understanding of gender orientation and gender politics has “grown considerably” in the time since Hadley’s high school tenure, which is reflected within the Bolton School.

“There has been a considerable growth in the range and quality of School cultural diversity learning experiences over the last decade,” she said.

“Bolton School is a proud supporter of Bolton Pride and a Stonewall Champion school.

"Its extracurricular clubs offer options to explore diversity matters and Pride Month is celebrated.”