Schools ‘will be ordered to tell parents’ if children start using a different gender identity and ‘bar them from opposite-sex changing rooms’
Schools will have to inform parents if their children start using a different gender identity, under new guidance.
Government rules, which will be finalized in the coming weeks, are expected to require families to be informed if students change names or uniforms.
The guidelines were also drafted to push for a ban on self-declared trans students from entering locker rooms of the opposite sex. Instead, according to the Sunday Times, they will be recommended bespoke facilities wherever possible.
Rishi Sunak said he was “very concerned” last month when it was alleged that schools are not routinely telling parents if their child is beginning to doubt their gender.
The Prime Minister stressed it was important for parents to ‘know what’s going on’, while Education Secretary Gillian Keegan was tasked with drafting the new guidelines.
Schools will have to inform parents if their children start using a different gender identity, under new guidance
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan (pictured) is in charge of drafting the new guidelines
A report from the think tank Policy Exchange raised alarm after finding that less than a third of parents are notified when a child expresses feelings of gender anxiety at school.
The research indicated an emphasis placed “on a child’s wishes and innate feelings over parental consent.”
It also found that “protection principles are routinely ignored in many high schools” because of issues such as sex and gender.
The non-statutory guidelines will apply to all state and independent schools in England, with the aim of providing more clarity on how teachers should deal with gender identity issues.
It is set to recommend that a biological male who is “socially switched”—assuming a female identity using pronouns and clothing—may not compete on girls’ teams for certain contact and competitive school sports.
However, there is probably more relaxed advice when it comes to non-contact sports.
The guidance is expected to include an exception for cases where informing parents could expose children to the risk of ‘significant harm’ at home.
While UK law allows adolescents in the UK to undergo certain medical transitional elements, such as taking puberty blockers, they cannot formally change gender or undergo reassignment surgery until they reach adulthood.
Rishi Sunak said he was “very concerned” last month when it was alleged that schools don’t routinely tell parents if their child is beginning to question gender
