Just before Christmas, the Department for Education, working closely with the Government’s Equality Hub, published comprehensive guidance for teachers on how best to support pupils questioning their gender in schools.
Over recent years the number of schools facing this challenge has increased, and in response, the Government has taken the time to carefully and robustly address the issues involved, with the safety and wellbeing of children as its driving principle.
The guidance provides clarity on how to approach a range of issues when it comes to supporting gender-questioning children and responding to requests for changes known as ‘social transition’. This includes changing pronouns, sports, single-sex schools and single-sex spaces. The guidance will assist teachers in ensuring that they are acting in the best interests of children.
Proper use of this guidance means social transition, in practice, should be extremely rare when the appropriate safeguards are put in place and the child’s best interest is taken into account.
Importantly, the guidance places beyond doubt the fundamental principle that parents should be involved in decisions about their children’s lives and that significant decisions affecting a child’s future should not be taken without parents being involved.
Where safety is a consideration – for example in physical sport or single-sex spaces – the guidance is categoric that it must never be compromised by allowing a child of the opposite sex to participate in those activities or use those facilities. Schools should also make sure competitive sport is fair, which will almost always mean separate sports for boys and girls, especially in older cohorts. The guidance also reaffirms that single-sex schools can refuse to admit pupils of the opposite sex, regardless of whether they are questioning their gender.
The draft guidance additionally clarifies that schools and colleges do not have to, and should not, accept all requests for social transition. Where a school considers a request, they should take a very cautious approach, including watchful waiting periods, and ensuring parents are fully consulted before any decision is taken.
This guidance is now subject to public consultation until the 12th March and I encourage parents, teachers, and school leaders across the Forest of Dean to respond.
Our gender questioning guidance:
🔹 Protects single-sex spaces
🔹 Ensures parents are involved in decisions affecting their children
🔹 Makes it clear that safety and safeguarding for all children must always be schools’ primary concernDetails here 👇https://t.co/VITzKy1nrS pic.twitter.com/lY70vJbGqc
— Gillian Keegan MP (@GillianKeegan) December 19, 2023
This column was first published in The Forester newspaper.