There is fury today as Labour‘s new trans guidance for schools allowed the possibility of primary school pupils socially transitioning in ‘rare’ cases, with education leaders warning it could see children change pronouns without parental consent.
Former head of Ofsted Baroness Amanda Spielman said today the guidance gives ‘too much leeway’ for schools ‘to permit a child to transition while keeping it secret from their parents’.
Speaking on the Today programme, she claimed young children could be ‘encouraged’ to tell schools they don’t feel safe at home in order to be able to transition at school if their parents are reluctant to support the move.
Conservative MP Claire Coutinho also hit out at the new rules, saying primary school children are ‘too young to make these decisions’ and that the Conservative draft of the document had said transitioning should not be permitted until they are older.
Britain’s strictest headteacher Katherine Birbalsingh meanwhile described the guidance as ‘disgraceful’.
But Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the guidance will bring in long overdue ‘consistency’ to schools that ‘the vast majority of parents will welcome’.
It comes after the government published guidance last night for school leaders regarding pupils who are questioning their gender.
The document opened the door for primary school children as young as four to ‘socially transition’ in ‘rare’ circumstances.
But it added any requests for transition should be treated with ‘caution’, and stated that girls’ toilets and changing facilities must remain female-only.
If gender-questioning pupils do not want to use the facilities designed for their sex, they should be provided with an alternative, rather than using those of the opposite sex.
Former head of Ofsted Baroness Amanda Spielman said today the new trans guidance gives ‘too much leeway’ for schools ‘to permit a child to transition while keeping it secret from their parents’.
The Department for Education guidance on ‘gender-questioning children’, which is subject to consultation, will eventually be backed by law (Pictured: A Trans Pride march in takes place in central London in July 2022)
There should also be no mixed toilets for children over eight or mixed-sex sleeping arrangements on trips, and sports should be kept single-sex if there are any safety concerns.
A child’s birth sex must be recorded in school and college records, the guidance says.
It also stated that schools should seek parents’ views on a child’s request to change gender, as well as always considering any clinical advice families have received.
No member of staff can decide by themselves to transition a child without agreeing it with the school and parents, and schools must not ‘initiate’ transition – they can only ‘respond’ to requests.
But Baroness Spielman today said the clauses relating to parental consent are too vague.
She told the Today programme: ‘There is far too much leeway for schools to permit a child to transition while keeping it secret from their parents. Social transition is not a neutral act.
‘Parents may be absolutely right to tell their child they must wait but a child that doesn’t want to wait may be encourage by peers, by activists, campaign groups to go and tell their school they feel unsafe at home in order to allow school to let them transition.
‘The guidance should say this is a decision that should never be taken without parents’ knowledge and agreement and if a school believes a child is unsafe and that no conversation can happen, the right thing to do at that point is a referral to social services.
‘It is only when a child is taken into care that decisions can be made by people who are not the child’s parents. I really worry about the lack of clarity here.’
She added: ‘What I think will happen, is we have parents who are dealing with a huge range of problems, children who are autistic, have mental health complications, and we will have schools seeing the gender dysphoria and thinking we can do something about that because the child has said they don’t feel safe.’
But she did acknowledge that elements of the guidance are ‘welcome’ for schools and ‘will help them deal with some very difficult situations’.
Mr Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the ASCL, struck a more optimistic tone and said parents will be kept ‘at the centre’ of decisions made under the guidance.
But Pepe Di’Iasio, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said the guidance will bring in long overdue ‘consistency’ to schools that ‘the vast majority of parents will welcome’
He told the programme: ‘We welcome the framework we have been provided with here. There is no doubt it is polarising, it is a contentious issue that will divide opinion but what the policy recommendations bring to us is some consistency, something that is evidence based and something that puts the child it the centre and makes sure they are safe.
‘I think the vast majority of parents will welcome this and know they are now part of this policy and schools will be able to make sure they talk to parents throughout this process, while keeping the child safe and making sure they are at the centre of any decisions that are made.’
He added that the guidance states the only cases in which parents would not be consulted would be if the school felt it ‘unsafe’ for the child to do so.
The guidance was originally drafted under the Tories in 2023, but when Labour came to power it was delayed for 18 months amid divisions in the party over the issue.
Revisions to the initial draft include scrapping sections which stated no teacher should be compelled to use a pupil’s new pronouns and that teachers should not be stopped from saying ‘boys and girls’.
A consultation on the updates to the safeguarding guidance will be held for 10 weeks.
Gender critics have already rushed to hit out at the document, alleging any idea children could socially transition is a ‘dangerous fairytale’.
Maya Forstater, the chief executive of Sex Matters, said that having the guidance is a ‘step forward’ but also claimed that parents should not be ‘allowed’ to let their child change gender.
She said: ‘Schools are still being left with the idea that they can facilitate “social transition” – which remains undefined – and that they should negotiate this on a case-by-case basis.
‘They are being encouraged to think that children have a “birth sex” as well as some other concept of sex. This has no basis in law or reality, and undermines safeguarding.
‘It should be clear by now that allowing children and parents to think that a child who starts their education as a girl can graduate as a boy or vice versa is a dangerous fairy tale.’
And Katherine Birbalsingh, widely known as Britain’s strictest headteacher, claimed the new guidance is ‘disgraceful’ and an ‘abuse of state power’ in a post on social media.
Some Tory politicians have expressed concern over the guidance in its current form, after parts of the last government’s initial draft were softened.
Claire Coutinho, shadow energy secretary and Conservative MP for East Surrey, told Times Radio that primary school children ‘are too young to make these decisions’.
‘We were very clear that you shouldn’t use different pronouns for primary school children,’ she said.
‘And I do think having a completely different view about primary school children [to secondary school] is important. Primary school children, in my view, are too young to make these decisions.’
She added the guidance does not adequately define what a ‘rare case’, where a student may fully socially transition, is.
‘Who’s to say which schools will feel that they are experiencing very rare cases, that is something which is not clearly defined.
‘And we [the Conservatives] said, no, it was a blanket rule that you shouldn’t be transitioning primary school children. So that is a difference.
‘And the third area that I would point to is something which concerns me, is there’s no protection for pupils or teachers who don’t want to use preferred pronouns, who might, for example, have a religious belief.’
Conservative Christian pressure group Christian Concern agreed, arguing that allowing some children to socially transition ‘[perpetuates] the lie’ that people can change their gender.
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: ‘Parents send their children to school and college trusting that they’ll be protected. Teachers work tirelessly to keep them safe. That’s not negotiable, and it’s not a political football.’
