Stonewall advising our secondary school

Sex not sexual (my autocorrect always does that)

Gender critical = sexual realistic.

[quote StonewallSchoolInfluence]@KittenKong yeah it's bonkers. I had a long email exchange and they backtracked on making all the toilets gender neutral. And o definitely wasn't the only one - the other parent I'm now in touch with had done the same, and I'm sure there must be more of us! It's not even about being gender critical, it's that a lot of the girls won't use mixed sex loos and the school needs to provide for all students.[/quote]
Exactly this. Wanting to uphold single sex spaces, wanting our children to be taught facts and not ideologies is about common sense, not necessarily about being gender critical.

Why must we ‘be kind’ at all costs to school aged “group a” who feel they don’t want to use the boys loos, yet it’s fine to be unkind to “group b” who will give themselves bladder problems by not using mixed sex loos (as they feel unsafe and undignified)?

Surely if “group a” were actually the same as “group b” (as we are told they are, and therefore ought to be treated as such), they’d be told to suck it up buttercup (like group b) and told to “be kind” to “group b”?

Being a parent with a reputation is the way to go. I now get immediate replies from the Head of DDs school as they know I mean business! It is exhausting but it is worth it.

Do you know any of the other parents who kicked up the fuss about the mixed-sex loos? Would a joint letter with them be a possibility?

StonewallSchoolInfluence Backstory - start of this term, the school announced all toilets were to become gender neutral (by taking signs off doors and removing urinals). There was a big fuss, school eventually backtracked and only made some blocks gender neutral. I personally had an email exchange with the deputy where I was lectured about being kind and inclusive.

I would find specific reporting that relates to the higher risk to girls from Mixed-sex facilities (always use that language - not gender neutral). You are looking for upskirting, photos, reports of female students not using the mixed-sex toilets all day, feedback from families of other ethnicities/religions. Apologies these are probably mixed into other threads and the resources (SSA/TT) that have already been suggested. The school need to be forced to reverse this decision totally.

(I would also be wondering about the finance to do this - where has the money come from and what has been cut to facilitate this wasted change).

Hello, how did you get on? Did you manage to find out if the Inclusion Quality Mark is a red flags?

TT and ssa as others have mentioned plus www.sex-matters.org also check out the lgb alliance, no resources as yet, but they are actively challenging.

Stonewall by their own definition are a political lobbying organisation/charity.

DFE has very clear guidelines on external agencies and political impartially. Schools have to have a good reason to deviate from this. Classifying Stonewall and their associate agencies as experts in their topics only works if they have professional qualifications in their topics to do so (ie not just H&S and a NSPCC safeguarding certificate).

www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-your-relationships-sex-and-health-curriculum#using-external-agencies

“It is important when using external agencies to take particular care that the agency and any materials used are appropriate and in line with your school’s legal duties regarding political impartiality. Your local authority, governing body and headteacher must:

• forbid the pursuit of partisan political activities by junior pupils
• forbid the promotion of partisan political views in the teaching of any subject in the school
• take reasonably practicable steps to secure that where political issues are brought to the attention of pupils, they are offered a balanced presentation of opposing views”.

I bet they spend next to no time on any of the other protected characteristics

Thank you from me too for challenging this, I totally agree that parents have the most clout and we are growing in numbers. Lots of us will support you here OP.

Thank you so much for pushing schools on this; and, in my experience, parents with a reputation are those that get their own way!
I’m trying to appear on more of these threads as interventions from parents are much more successful than internal GC teachers making a fuss (I am both).
The escalation goes: Head, governors, LEA. Make it clear at each stage that you will escalate so they know you won’t let it lie.
SSA and TT have all the information you need but let me know if you need anything more - I have been you, both externally and internally!!

One useful approach OP is to ask the school for details of how their inclusion strategy includes the other protected characteristics?

BAME children and adults
Those with disabilities including physical disabilities
Those with sight and hearing impairments.
Children with SEN
Girls

Ask how their school policies specifically address the above?
What curriculum resources / time address the above?
Is the funding (££, curriculum and staff time) being spent on LGBT issues equal to the funding the school is spending on the other vulnerable groups? if not, why not?

That's a bit garbled but hopefully you get what I mean.

Hover=government

Ask to see the PHSE/RSE scheme of work and use SSA and TT resources to show how they may be going against hover guidelines.

I would probably go through the official complaint procedure - policy will be on the school's website.

It would be really helpful if you can get other parents on board too.

It is exhausting, OP but it's worth doing.

Send them this link - www.thesouthernreporter.co.uk/education/councillors-hear-of-claims-that-boys-at-jedburgh-grammar-campus-waved-sanitary-products-like-flags-3471533

Print out and send Transgender Trend's school resource pack.

It's not a specific reply to your specific situation, but it is an overarching resource that covers most situations you will likely encounter in a gender ideologists environment.

You can do this anonymously.

www.transgendertrend.com/transgender-schools-guidance/

I think it's in here somewhere Lovely

www.gov.uk/guidance/teaching-about-relationships-sex-and-health

As a political lobby group I would be asking which other groups they will be inviting into the school to give balance? There is a law about political groups in school but I am afraid someone else will have to find it.