Jigsaw PSHE?

Yes, I asked for it. I almost didn’t bother because it sounded ok, but the impression the lesson plan gave was there were boys clothes and girls clothes. There was nothing there about contradicting or questioning that view. I also grilled my DC afterwards and they gave no impression those stereotypes had in any way been addressed.

We've just had the email from school - Catholic MAT secondary - where the PSHE policy includes references to "The Equalities Act" and lists gender identity among the protected characteristics. Does include sex as well.

That's worth a letter, isn't it?

@BreatheAndFocus Have you seen the lesson plan? I am almost certain it would not have boxed boys and girls into "boys clothes" and "girls clothes" categories. In our school we make the children very aware that this sort of stereotyping and pigeon-holing is not OK.
I'm a teacher (20 years) but also a strong feminist (yes kids - I am a Ms and married!!) and had this genuinely been the lesson plan I would have refused to teach it.

I've seen the Year 6 lesson for Jigsaw on Celebrating Difference - it discusses the protected characteristics in the Equality Act (for 10 year olds! why?!) and then tells the story of Robert Marshall Cowell, a fighter pilot in WW2 who raced motor cars but then became "very sad" - "so depressed that he had to leave his wife and children" and see a doctor. "Robert was transgender, which meant that he was born with a male body but felt like a female. The doctors... helped him start a special process called transitioning, where he changed his male body into a female one."

"Unlike Roberta some transgender people feel male but are born with a female body, and some transgender people are happy not to transition but stay with the body they are born with. There are a whole range of transgender people, and this is called gender diversity."

Followed by questions (I think these are by Jigsaw as well but different font so could be the school) including: Why was Robert unhappy? Why do you think people were unkind when Robert changed to Roberta? What do you think it would feel like not being happy with who you are? Does gender make someone a good or bad person?

No, sadly it wasn’t. I’d have been all for it if it had trashed regressive stereotypes, but it clearly didn’t. That’s what I mean about not trusting jigsaw. They have ulterior motives and frame things subtly.

@BreatheAndFocus I imagine that would have been a "starter" activity though and the lesson plan would have gone on to unpick it e.g. boys and girls can wear what they like.

The school I teach at uses Jigsaw but I don't personally deliver it so not of much help here!

I think Jigsaw is quite sly. They have innocuous-looking material that seems ok at a quick glance, but if you read it carefully, you’ll spot implicit reinforcement/introduction of GI.

As an example, one section my DC did was about pregnancy. I don’t remember the whole thing but basically it was all about humans and having a baby. Then they slipped in something that said that females usually had the baby/babies. I bet if you confronted them about that, they’d be all ‘we meant seahorses and stuff’ but I firmly believe that’s shite because it was cunningly put in a section that would make young children think it applied to humans.

Not only that, the section about gender stereotypes, looks helpful but when I asked for the lesson plan, they had the children sorting clothes into ‘girls clothes’ and ‘boys clothes’ at one point. Again, I think this is subtle preparation for GI. They certainly did nothing to dismantle stereotypes, as shortly after that lesson my DS told me I’d have to “get a man” to rebuild the wall in our garden. I said that women could be builders and build walls too - and he said that no, men were better at that kind of job. I laughed and asked him who told him that and he told me they’d learned it at school 🙄

Is there any way of sharing the breakdown of the lessons? I've not had luck getting any more info from the school than the pamphlet

I think we’ve been really lucky with sensible school and headteacher.

Does it seem weird to anyone else to have sex Ed resources that seem sensible and biology focussed, puberty is natural etc but to then have resources about gender ID that are so stereotyped? It’s almost like 2 different groups producing it!

Sorry I realised after I posted that this was not the thread I commented on yesterday!
So for context…
DS is in year 6, small rural primary school. They started using Jigsaw last year. School has a meeting for parents where they went through the resources. The content is delivered by their class teachers and where questions are asked that are not appropriate for teachers to answer or where it’s content that is covered when they’re older they are directed to speak to their parents and/or told that is covered another time.
Our head did say they had chosen the ‘less graphic’ options because they felt that was more in keeping with the school ethos and children’s experiences (most kids live in small rural villages so not overly street smart). I asked specifically about gender ideology teaching/questions and they said that it is not covered in primary and that their focus is on preparing children (in year 5-6) for what to expect in puberty, that everyone goes through this and it is normal, as are feelings of discomfort with changing bodies. They focus on importance of health (care for yourself like showering, shaving, managing periods) and importance of health relationships and respect.
They are well aware of potential safeguarding issues and do not agree in keeping secrets from parents. They let us know when sessions are taking place so we can prepare for questions.

FWIW DS is autistic. We have always talked about gender stereotypes and that humans are the same as other mammals I.e male/female and this defined by our reproductive capacity (but not choices) and we can’t change our sex. Everything else in terms of what you like, how you dress, who you have relationships with is personal preference and means nothing about male/female. He hasn’t told me they have discussed it which he would have done (being autistic he tends to need to tell me when he’s been told about or heard something different to our previous conversations).

Sorry that's not very readable. Theres a link to the same leaflet on this school website (not my school)
https://www.stpauls.wokingham.sch.uk/web/personal_social_relationships_and_health_education_psrhe/558327

This is the the jigsaw leaflet about the gender identity teaching part of the curriculum. My child's school sent it to me a month or two ago after I requested it. Hope you can read it as I've had to screenshot the pdf.

The yr2 stuff clearly suggests children can be neither boy nor girl, and that this is a choice. Or that it is possible to be neither boy nor girl. Also that there's such a thing as boys ,& girls toys, reinforced by the pink/blue theming.

I haven't looked into the yr6 stuff yet....

I think the info above is only the sex education element, not the gender identity part of the jigsaw curriculum.

By coincidence I’ve just had this from DS’ school about what is taught at different year groups using the Jigsaw modules. I hope it’s helpful. (Blacked out areas are identifying details of the school).

Just checked and they have changed the website. There used to be a section on the team on the jigsaw website- including pictures. The over representation of trans individuals coupled on their staff with the content of their resources made me very uncomfortable

Safe schools alliance had a bit on jigsaw

My dd school use jigsaw. I'm really unhappy with the resources used. Our school had a table with the books they would be reading and I got and read them all. I'm year two the books were in my opinion not ok. One in particular was called Jillian is a mermaid. A young boy likes to wear dress and jewlery after seeing some people dressed this way on the train- I have no problem with that but then the grandmother in support for Julian's tastes took him to the mermaid parade (looks like pride). And I thought the clothes drawn on the people at the parade was inappropriate. I have so much other stuff going on I couldn't take it up with school but I made a real point to have discussion with my dd so she now understands she needs to respect the beliefs of others but respecting others doesn't mean adopting their beliefs or giving up her rights.