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Original poster

Has anyone had a meeting with their child's school following non-acknowledgement of reciept of Transgender Trend Schools guide?

41 replies

Jog22 · 13/03/2019 09:57

I emailed it twice last year to head teacher - the second following an enquiry and being told they couldn't find it. I then handed in a printed copy with a covering letter. Again no acknowledgement. I'm told this is probably normal considering work load etc so am thinking the only way is to ask for a meeting. However I'm not sure how to go about it. I want to stay calm and articulate obviously but it's a subject that makes me irate and incoherent.

I imagine I would start from a safeguarding angle and asking for assurance that their material re PSHE and any special assemblies are not 'promoting' trans however how do I clearly delineate that I have no problem with the teaching of gay/lesbian awareness at the same time?

Any tips re meeting etiquette and content gratefully received.

OP posts:
Original poster
Jog22 · 13/03/2019 16:13

truthisarevolutionaryact
"...there is now a suggestion that some children (gender non conforming) should be set apart from safeguarding." Oh my. I don't know much about safeguarding but I'm assuming the onus is on protecting the child - this would be casting them out into the wilderness. Shocking.

OP posts:
truthisarevolutionaryact · 13/03/2019 15:38

Transitioning may not be a safeguarding issue but it may well be. A child in the grip of this needs careful support from people with qualifications and experience. Telling individual teachers to keep this confidential is outrageously dangerous. Adults in schools must share the information and then there can be thoughtful discussions about how to proceed, confidentiality, talking to parents etc. Schools do this all the time with safeguarding. It is only since the trans pressure groups have been allowed to access schools, that there is now a suggestion that some children (gender non conforming) should be set apart from safeguarding.

The last group to do this in my professional lifetime was the Paedophile Information Exchange who argued that children below the age of consent had the right to be seen as sexual beings and it was oppressive to deny them this right. They had quite a lot of traction on the left for some time..........

truthisarevolutionaryact · 13/03/2019 15:20

Jog22
Safeguarding issues re trans lobby groups getting into in schools:

They tell teachers they can keep a child's secrets if they disclose worries about being the opposite sex
They insist teachers immediately affirm a child's words and don't refer or question.
They tell schools that they can keep a child's transition secret from their parents (and this has already happened to a number of families).

Schools are not meant to allow 'political' organisations access to children other than as part of a balanced discussion. All the trans groups include lobbying as part of their aims yet for some reason the groups use the trans teflon to magically identify as 'experts' in child development, child and teenage psychology and having children's interests at heart - when actually, nothing could be further from the truth.

Original poster
Jog22 · 13/03/2019 15:04

I have found the relevant Allsorts bit.

www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/assets/media/East%20Sussex%20schools%20transgender%20toolkit.pdf
(Page 30 if link doesn't go there)
Has an example of a transgirl wanting to be in the changing room of the girls and if a girl objects then it is SHE who is required to be removed and accommodated elsewhere.
In Scenario 2 a girl objects to a transgirl competing with her in a sport and she is encouraged to ‘do another activity’. The cognitive dissonance surrounding this issue is immense. The onus is all on the girl moving aside to make way for the transgirl even in her own spaces which under EQ210 are under the protected characteristic of sex. How is this not seen as discriminatory against her?

And how is this not a safeguarding issue as further back in the document they state;
"4.2 SafeguardingThere are no issues under child protection or safeguarding law, or practice specific to trans* children and young people, aside from what is in place to keep all children and young people safe.” I'd like to explore this too (without sounding like a bigot obvs)

OP posts:
OldCrone · 13/03/2019 13:28

I expect the teachers are struggling already with the huge funding shortfall and the fact that there aren't enough teachers to go around.

Someone's paying for trans lobby organisations to go into schools to teach children that they all have a gender identity. Where's that money coming from and shouldn't it be spent on education instead?

Original poster
Jog22 · 13/03/2019 13:25

Thanks for all the responses so far. Useful in helping me formulate why I'm wanting a meeting and what outcome I want from it. (It's a primary school btw)

Lumene - Thanks, I will gather info on Tavistock and the recent news of their lack of follow-up studies

NonHypotheticalLurkingParent - Useful to compare and contrast with Mermaids et al and have that with me (as well as the Allsorts section about the removal of the objecting child.) I shall have to get down to some serious reading. Also the school is moving towards academisation so the buying in of un-assessed packages would be focal.

They currently use Jigsaw scheme of work which looks fairly innocuous.... however I'm concerned that their Equalities and Inclusion Policy refers to 'gender' not 'sex'. and has 'gender identity' instead of 'gender reassignment' as a protected characteristic so they may have been got at somewhere along the line.

OP posts:
pepperpot99 · 13/03/2019 10:53

So now teachers have to deal with all of this as well? no wonder they are leaving the profession in droves.

NonHypotheticalLurkingParent · 13/03/2019 10:47

Teachers are struggling with no funding, but they’re also struggling with the increased demand to deal with things they’re not qualified in.

With acadamisation, came the dismantling of the Local Authority, and their packages and collective safeguarding information. Schools have to buy in packages from outside services, packages that have been shown to have no impact assessments done on them before being rolled out to schools.

The teachers I have spoken to have been grateful for another perspective as they felt unable to speak out at their discomfort it’s the guidance from Stonewall, etc, as it’d make them a bigot.

NonHypotheticalLurkingParent · 13/03/2019 10:36

Metmaid is Mermaid spelt incorrectly!

Lumene · 13/03/2019 10:35

Pepperpot Mermaids are a controversial lobby group

www.transgendertrend.com/mermaids-ceo-reveals-her-views/

pepperpot99 · 13/03/2019 10:31

OP what exactly do you want a meeting for? what is your issue? has the school done something wrong?

BTW what is 'metmaid' ?

pepperpot99 · 13/03/2019 10:28

I expect the teachers are struggling already with the huge funding shortfall and the fact that there aren't enough teachers to go around. They don't have time to police kids' gender preferences on top of everything else.

NonHypotheticalLurkingParent · 13/03/2019 10:25

I’ve sent a few out to local schools, as well as DD’s. I always present it as an alternative to other information sent out by other groups.

The Transgender Trend pack is fantastic as it points out the safeguarding issues that the school’s pastoral staff are probably struggling with. I ask the school to just read it and contrast it with Stonewall’s advice, and decide for themselves.

Ask for a meeting with the head or head of pastoral. They are not going to put anything in writing that agrees one way or the other. Bare in mind, that even with a face to face meeting, they are not going to openly agree with you. Read Stonewall’s, GIRES’ and Metmaids policies and show them where the conflicts of safeguarding arise.

Atalune · 13/03/2019 10:23

Have you contacted your local authority and asked them to prove that they have done an impact study on the trans materials that they will use in schools? This I think is quite important as it’s a top down approach from what the LA distribute?

I would do that first.

Lumene · 13/03/2019 10:07

Also worth highlighting some of the coverage around pressure to transition and the dangers/costs of the medical side of thusvto explain why you are concerned with some of the lobby group messaging. The stories around Tavistock etc.

Lumene · 13/03/2019 10:04

I would focus on the outcomes you want to ensure (eg single sex provision, normal safeguarding practice, no lobby groups teaching contested ideology), and ask how the school will ensure this.

I would try to engage with school governors and get them involved. Find out who they are and if you feel you would get a positive response approach one of the parent governors perhaps?