Gender critical and looking at secondary schools

Take a look at their policies (they should all be online) to see if they refer to sex or gender and also see what they say about protected characteristics (if they somehow mix self-id in there - that will give you a clue as to how on the ball the senior leadership team and governors are (and if they are plastered with self-id stuff/gender rather than sex that will show you they are either going for woke or clueless and being led by Stonewall/other lobby group publications).

Yes, I see your point

I honestly think you are over estimating how much thought the majority of parents have about their school choices. Some will just pick the local school because that is where everyone else sends their children, some pretty much have no choice especially in more rural areas, you may have very little chance of getting into any other school than your catchment / admission zone school etc.

Even if some parents eschew a particular school over this, there is likely to be many more who won't.

As I said previously it is often an illusion of choice, in my authority, I have 3 schools in an academy chain which I would avoid as much as I could, 1 Catholic school, 1 that no one really wants, 1 school with a lottery admission and then 2 others. So not that great. (The academy chain schools are fine, just I have many issues with them)

This thread ought to be pinned to the feminisim board. If schools start realising parents are considering how much they are penetrated by Gender Woo when considering where to send their children, they may start to reconsider seeking advice from 'charities' like Mermaids.

If this is your first time applying for secondary bear in mind that it is often an illusion of choice. Make sure you have your 'banker" school somewhere even if they are down the rabbit hole as if you don't get any of your choices you could find yourself in a much worse position.

I'm starting the process again this year. Dd2 will just be going to the same school as the other two though. (Sibling link plus seeing the school from our house makes it a certainty)

I'd be tempted to ask neutrally 'what are your policies regarding trans identifying children' and see what they say.

You do need to ask your questions of the right person though, so you need to identify the member of the SLT responsible for pastoral care and/or safeguarding (should be on the website) and find them to ask.

If a school seems otherwise good, then it is worth doing a dialogue with them pointing them at latest info to see if they take it on board.

If a school does have an LGBT club (safeguarding nightmare), it's worth asking which adults run the group for heterosexual girls and is there one for straight boys? If not, why not?

Joking of course, but if there are groups focusing on sexuality, it's perfectly reasonable to ask a) what safeguarding systems / adult supervision they have to ensure age appropriate discussions about sexuality and b) how do they ensure that the school is not in breach of the DfE guidelines on partisan political views (eg, that people can change sex etc).

There is also a rainbow club and endless posts about how inclusive they are - but seemingly only if you believe in gender mythology.
Red flags everywhere at this school.

Have a look and the senior staff names (often available on the website and see if they have social media and check it. Also look on the website for key groups for parents PTA that sort of thing and look at the social media of those parents.

Does the school social media drape itself in flags for the various days, months etc to the exclusion of all the other groups?

Look at the displays on the walls especially in English, history, sociology, politics and even RE classrooms - are there other political beliefs on the walls? - BLM/white privilege etc., with no balancing view suggests generally wokery and staff allowed to teach their politics without hindrance from the leadership. Do they use the words women and girls a lot?

What about science - do biology displays look like they did when you were at school or have they erased women and taken on gender neutral language?

Which books are displayed prominently in the library? Are there political groupings of books? Have they hidden JKR? Is there a feminism section in the older students library and is it just Caitlin Moran is is there a wider range?

Are there posters saying 'be kind' or that hate will not be tolerated (why does that need saying? are they begging the kids to be hateful???) because that suggests a strong identity politics view.

Go in the toilets - you should see the layout with regard to boys / girls. No good if single sex loo is on fourth floor but there are unisex loos everywhere else! No time to go at break. Ask the kids - is there time for the loo at break or between lessons, that might reveal a problem. But also look at the walls and back of loo cubical doors: last school toilet I went in had loads of posters about 'people' checking their breasts for lumps.

Is there an LGBT group? (ask if the clubs are all sports or academic or is there any thing else? That will probably get the answer without you asking directly).

Where do they get their PSHE resources from? Are they written in house or do they buy a scheme in and if so from where? Are they on the school website?

If you are shown round by kids, ask the kids if they have debates and discussions and what on? Do they enjoy them? Have they ever had a discussion that changed their mind about something? Just ask them open questions but the kids might reveal the prejudices of some departments or staff without realising it.

Age of the staff. More middle aged staff members usually mean less wokery.

At open evening they won't know who you are and won't be able to identify your child probably. Many schools have two nights: go round with your child on one evening and round on your own the next and ask the questions then if you really want to keep your child out of it.

There will be loads of clues if you start looking at you go round though - they can't help but give themselves away!

(I'm an ex-teacher, DH is a teacher - he says anyone going round his school would know because of the wall displays)

Looked after children ( and the institutions / adults who care for them) were one of the cohorts targeted at an early stage by certain trans groups and adults for trans training, policy development and "education".
Why anyone would make a point of targeting this vulnerable group, often with chaotic lives and isolated from their families, one can only imagine

Sorry, mermaids on, as far as I'm aware Dophins have not yet been used to symbolise gender magic. Give the fundamentalists time though...

One teacher at one of my children's secondaries (the other secondary school has not been captured) has drunk the Kool Aid. Her laptop has a plethora of rainbows, unicorns and dolphins on. This is a grown woman with two kids who knows damn well the biological realities of being a woman. But she's been captured completely and gender woo is on the timetable.

As a result, they have been infiltrated by Stonewall, Diversity Role Models, and boast all over social media about stocking Juno Dawson's book in the library.

When I questioned the regressive, sexist, damaging and biologically incorrect material children had been looking at, the school seemed to conflate my concern about gender ideology with sexuality and then branded me a homophobe.

Still they continue to roll out the gender fiction. Fortunately, my other child's school has not yet bought into this nonsense.

Anecdotally, my GNC-ish teen DD is at a grammar with very high percentage of children from quite conservative religious backgrounds. Various cultures. Not much gender woo at all. Very few kids ID as trans but those who are go fairly unremarked on. It's definitely more homophobic than transphobic in terms of behaviour.

Also re class & diversity.

My kids are at an inner city, very diverse school. There is defo some gender woo (Pride club?!), and one concern of mine was that my very fey teen who has always preferred the company of girls and activities that society genders feminine, would be told by the teaching and the rough macho lads that he is, in fact, a girl.

But his best mate is at a grammar school, and they seem super captured. She says she's a lesbian (good for her), although there seems to be a lot of kids calling themselves trans there. Way more than at the state schools.

Ask and share your concerns. The teachers at my kids' school were on the whole grateful that I raised the issue and we had some really interesting chats, and things have been changed.

Impressive, not sure I'd have felt it within my capacity but you're right we have to be proactive instead of just limiting our input to our children.

Yes I did similar with DDs primary school and they really appreciated my input. Moving house soon so I will need to repeat the process....

I went into the school that my eldest is starting this year. I took in the Sex Matter/Transgender Trend guidance. I talked to them from a parent’s point of view. I have a very sensitive daughter who would really struggle with boys in changing rooms and toilets and my youngest, like me at that age, has short hair and wears ‘boy’ clothes.

I hated doing it because I don’t like confrontation, but I was lucky and the school are a bit behind the times on this and haven’t fallen for it all yet. They welcomed the guidance. I am planning to go back in again to follow up next term.

It’s not something I would normally do, but I don’t think you can expect that other people will sort this out. We’ve got to stand up and do something. Speaking to schools and local councils is the best way to unravel all the nonsense that has been pushed into these institutions.

It depends. On odd statistic that stuck with me is the number of looked-after children/young people who present with gender dysphoria in England. They seem to be an over-represented sub-group.

This research investigated the prevalence of looked-after and adopted young people within a case file review of 185 young people referred to a UK gender identity development service over a 2-year period (1 April 2009 to 1 April 2011). Data were extracted from referral letters, clinical notes and clinician letters. Looked-after young people were found to represent 4.9% of referrals in this cohort, which is significantly higher than within the English general population (0.58%). Adopted young people represented 3.8% of referrals. In addition, the findings showed that looked-after young people were less likely to receive a diagnosis of gender dysphoria compared with young people living within their birth family.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1359104518791657

It's difficult to get a clear answer on this but I think a substantial number of looked-after children are present in schools in working class areas or those towards the disadvantaged end of the socio-economic quintiles.

Brilliant suggestions @ValancyRedfern

Bit surprised about the idea that schools that are more culturally diverse and more working class are less likely to be infiltrated with gender woo though. But the more I think about it, I guess the more it makes sense....

Secondary teacher here at a non gender woo school. My first top tip is a Catholic School is your safest bet, but I realise this may not be an option. (I'm not religious but teach at a Catholic school). Also my anecdotal experience is that schools which are more non-white and/or working class are much less full of social contagion.

You can tell a lot from the website and from displays around the school.

Look at the website for any mention of Stonewall, Mermaids.
Most website will have back issues of school newsletters. Trawl through as many as you can bear to see if there are any Stonewall type events. Start with June as what they do during Pride month will be most telling.

When you're in the school, check out the displays. If they have a massive display in the foyer filled with Mermaids stuff then you know it's a no.

Questions to ask:
What provider do you use for PSHE? (Then cross reference with the Safe Schools Alliance and TT reviews)
Do you provide single sex toilets?
Are you aware of the Cass Review and it's recommendations?
Are you aware of Suella Braverman's recent speech and does the school follow her recommendations?
HOw do you ensure that women and girls are protected as per the Equality Act.

Now is the best time to be 'that' parent. If they bristle and fob you off, you know it's not the school for you.

This comment has got to be a piss take!

It may be pure coincidence that every one of his posts reads like a makey uppy example of what a misogynist's stereotype of a mumsnetter might say. Almost as if he were trying to fabricate examples of the bigotry and silly mummy chat that doesn't actually exist on this board. Right down to "home ec might make my son gay" and "mummy needs wine". It's pathetic.