DS teacher told him boys can be girls

junior school teachers are not all Oxbridge phds
All teachers require Qts which requires a degree + a teaching qualification. Many have masters and PhDs. It's insulting that we're low paid despite this, but it certainly doesn't make it the sort of job you are not expected to have intellectual responsibility. We're held to a much higher standard than many civil servants.

Nothing wrong with asking for Rse material which they are required to share anyway. Grab the teacher at the end of the day and ask if you can chat on another day about the lesson. Specify which lesson it was as that gives the teacher the opportunity to print off any resources (you could even suggest this) saying that D's came away with some misconceptions and you're trying to work out how to support him.
Teachers are well used to parents coming in and not picking lessons and whilst it isn't always pleasant, in this case it's necessary.

@TheReluctantPhoenix I don't think you are as GC as you think you are, or you don't/haven't had children in primary school yet? This is not at all the same as an atheist sending their kid to a church school.

Could you contact the teacher directly first to make sure you have got the whole picture? It is a good opportunity for them to show you materials etc. It's also a good opportunity to show that gender teaching ends up with misconceptions, because whether or not they taught that girls can become boys etc. That's what your child has understood it as. At the very least the lesson needs clarity for the children.

It definitely is entirely ok to ask to see lesson material that is being taught to your child, especially if your child has been told not to ask questions. Schools have a responsibility to work in partnership with parents. The culture of handing over all responsibility to schools/doctors etc and not wanting to rock the boat does untold harm.

In what context was DS told this? It doesn't sound like it fits with the recent guidance.

www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-your-relationships-sex-and-health-curriculum

Excerpt that may be relevant: "We are aware that topics involving gender and biological sex can be complex and sensitive matters to navigate. You should not reinforce harmful stereotypes, for instance by suggesting that children might be a different gender based on their personality and interests or the clothes they prefer to wear. Resources used in teaching about this topic must always be age-appropriate and evidence based. Materials which suggest that non-conformity to gender stereotypes should be seen as synonymous with having a different gender identity should not be used and you should not work with external agencies or organisations that produce such material. While teachers should not suggest to a child that their non-compliance with gender stereotypes means that either their personality or their body is wrong and in need of changing, teachers should always seek to treat individual students with sympathy and support."

*put

Believing that Christ is risen doesn't our children on harmful medical pathways though, does it?

i would approach the school if they were teaching flat-earth theory and i would if they were teaching gender ideology (and have...)

keep it light with some open questions and send it to the head. bollocks like this needs challenging.

If I taught something that was incorrect and potentially harmful, I would expect to be pulled up on it. Parents complain to teachers all the time. We don't necessarily have to do what they say, but a parent has the right to complain. Also, RSE is the only subject where schools are legally obliged to consult with parents, so definitely write in OP.

@Whinginadeville,

The teacher has not necessarily jumped on to any bandwagon. She probably has not given it much though and is probably trying to ‘be kind’.

It might come as a surprise to you that junior school teachers are not all Oxbridge phds (being paid about 30k per annum…).

It is not a Science lesson either. Science has particular standards it should uphold. This is not the case for a chat/English/PSHE.

Schools are package deals. Plenty of non religious parents choose to send their children to religious schools where they will be regularly told that Christ is the Risen Lord. Guess what.. they just tune that message out in return for the rest of the education.

@TheReluctantPhoenix schools regularly share PSHE material with parents, it's good practice to enable parents to answer questions from children at home.

And in this case it sounds like the school has not complied with the DfE guidelines issued in September last year.

I would 100% ask for the teaching materials and why the children were not allowed to ask questions.

06:39TheReluctantPhoenix
I admire you committment to #bekind but the teacher has not made a mistake. She's jumped on a woke bandwagon that has lead to 'Karen' White assaulting women inmates. The correct use of sex and gender is important. No one can change sex and no teacher should say it. Would it be OK for the science teacher to say God created the earth in 7 days? Or the geography teacher to insist the earth is flat?

Although I am gender critical, I would not be writing to the school over this.

It is a good opportunity to discuss what is a fact and what is an opinion and to say that it is OK to not agree with the school on this one.

It is definitely not OK, as a parent, to demand ‘lesson material’. The teacher reports to the head, not to the parents. And the head is governed by a board of governors.

The idea that any parent will be in agreement with the school about 100% of teaching is unrealistic. And a child taking notes in order to get a teacher in trouble is not commendable.

The message to the child is teachers are human and, if they are in general doing a good job, they need to be forgiven mistakes, in the same way as they forgive pupils ‘mistakes’ in behaviour.

Changing gender still results in major operations and life long medication on an otherwise healthy body.

Or the gaslighting of women and children when a wearing clothes of the opposite sex means you "identify as" and therefore can access women's spaces.

The job's been done too often.

Just ask them to change the word ‘sex’ to ‘gender’ surely? Job done

Safe Schools Alliance might have some guidance for you.

safeschoolsallianceuk.net

Some template letters here - does one of them meet your needs?

safeschoolsallianceuk.net/resources-2/letter-templates/

Well done your DS taking notes. Very mature.

When teachers don't allow questions it's a good sign they don't actually understand the stuff themselves. Or even it's been handed down by management and teacher doesn't agree with it.
Maybe start off by saying your DS was confused by content on gender and sex, he thought they were saying you can change sex, please can you see the lesson material that was used so that you can discuss it with him.
(Then take it from there.)
If there's an age where they need to know what sex they are, this is it. They're about to hit puberty and its effects will be different depending on sex. They need clarity on what to expect, not "people who menstruate" BS.