King’s Maths School (KCLMS) ideology pushed on students

[PilarT]

I posted this on another thread but the OP didn’t like the conversation and so Mumsnet removed it.. I’m posting it again here in case it’s useful for any prospective parents. I know I would have appreciated the information before my child applied.

Here are some examples of the extreme woke ideology taught at the school:
They teach sex positivity: class discussions on sex include things like whether you should spit or swallow when someone ejaculates in your mouth, what sexual activities you would like to try and what you are going to do about it. They say they want to break down the taboos around sex and make it so nothing is inappropriate to discuss with them, eg. BDSM. As another parent pointed out, they are using an external provider for the sex education, who have been flagged to the Safe Schools Alliance.
They also have classes to challenge the norms of monogamy and being in a relationship at all.
They teach gender theory, that gender is fluid and you can explore and decide what gender you are. 2 years ago they were sending out an email to students in the first term asking if they want to change their pronouns, with an online form to fill in asking what pronoun and name you would like used at school and what pronouns and names you would like the school to use with your parents, so that your parents don’t find out. They seem to not be doing this now, maybe because of the government guidance published earlier in the year.
Earlier this term the boys and girls were separated and the boys were given a lesson on how to be less assertive so that they don’t make girls uncomfortable. An example of things they shouldn’t do is write too high on the white board because it might upset girls. Personally, I think boys can be shy and can need to learn to be more assertive so I find this gender stereotyping very unpleasant.
There is a lot about racism from a critical race theory angle. How it’s not enough to not be racist, how you must be antiracist, etc. Classes on how it’s racist that maths uses Pythagoras theorem a lot, for example, because that’s European. A lot of anti-white rhetoric, aimed at making people feel guilty for being white, and compulsory homeworks on anti-racism, such as making an anti-racist New Year’s resolution and doing research about critical race theory.
When the teachers went on strike a couple of years ago, an email was sent out explaining the motive behind the strike from the viewpoint of Marxist philosophy. That term was literally used, so at least some of the teachers must think of themselves as Marxist.
I have loads of documents showing all this and much more. These are just a few examples.
All this is fine if it aligns with the parents values, but if it doesn’t then the aggressive pushing of it is unpleasant, and it is not made clear to parents that that is what they are doing, particularly not before joining. If I had known, I would not have suggested my child apply.

The idea is basically that the concept of right and wrong answers is also fundamentally oppressive.

The correct response to that sort of guff is 'How many fingers am I holding up?'

🖕

@noblegiraffe I agree!

The idea is basically that the concept of right and wrong answers is also fundamentally oppressive.

Does this idea extend to engineers and architects and other professions where a wrong answer can cost lives?

It’s not ‘anti-racism’ - it’s highly controversial, divisive and discredited critical race theory. It’s not the place of a 6th form college to be pushing ideology on young people.

Just fucking teach maths (and Physics or whatever). You have literally one job.

As for the gender ideology. Ugh. So exhausted by this lunacy.

Interesting. I was thinking of this school for DC.

The antiracism pages on white privilege you've shown us are commonly used on courses. I think they're a very useful, though basic, introduction to the subject to get people thinking.

The things about abstract mathematics being somehow oppressive is shocking. It's suggesting that education for its own sake, love of knowledge, pure mathematics, should be a niche interest of the privileged classes, rather than enjoyed by all.

My main criterion in finding a secondary school for my DC was that learning should be for the sheer love of it, not just about basic employability. I chose a school that teaches ancient Greek and other non-practical subjects. It also happens only to have only about 5% white pupils.

In America, yes. Even in air traffic control, standards have been drastically reduced in service of the DEI gods. Strange as surely black people also want their doctors and air traffic controllers to be the most qualified people possible.

In America, yes. Even in air traffic control, standards have been drastically reduced in service of the DEI gods.

Never mind if that bridge collapses or that apartment building falls down, as long as no-one was oppressed during the design and building process.

Oh well, the lawyers will be raking it in when the lawsuits come rolling along.

That reminds me actually - when they give feedback on work they use ‘www’ - what went well, and ‘ebi’ - even better if. I think the idea of an answer being wrong is quite useful in maths!! My husband and I found that really funny. Yes, an answer would be even better if it were right.

Actually many of our A Level mathematicians get feedback on their work not related to their answer.
Many are so good they forget to include all their workings and don't get all the marks (it's also where they tend to make silly errors).
They also increasingly would get a presentational target. Some handwriting is now so bad that Maths are complaining about it. Not just English.
That said flagging them as WWW/EBI seems a little patronising for A Level students for me. Still, it works for them.

I don’t mean they shouldn’t get feedback, and by answer I don’t mean literal number or expression or whatever at the end. I mean the whole answer with the working and reasoning. I am aware that the number or whatever at the end isn’t particularly important compared to the rest, say, in an Olympiad question.
I’m laughing at the euphemistic phrasing.

I don't see any problem with a discussion of anti-racism including white privilege. We live in a country where our institutions are racist and the effects of colony and empire are still with us. They could perhaps have picked their resources to have more local relevance, e.g.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/jan/05/head-of-britains-police-chiefs-says-force-is-institutionally-racist-gavin-stephens

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windrush_scandal

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1883163/british-invasion-empire-map

The phrase is very common in teaching though. I don't use it with 6th Form myself. But I do use reward stickers as they love them!

Yeah, WWW/EBI is pretty common. We ditched it a few years ago though because we’re doing far less written feedback and more whole class feedback these days.

The other 6th form my son has applied for he applied because they offer ancient greek, which he would love to study "just for fun"! (All down to a Percy Jackson obsession which has led to an ancient greek obsession!). He didn't apply to Kings because of "employability" though, he applied there because he truly loves maths and because he wants to live and breath maths. Deep, way over my head, maths conversations happen regularly with his Dad. I didn't even go to 6th form / do a-levels - this wasn't something remotely encouraged at the school I went to. The vast majority of us left school for work at 16. But my son loves learning, he loves maths. We have never pushed our kids through tutoring or anything as, at the end of the day, we want our kids to be happy more than anything else.

@nouveaunomduplume Certainly nothing wrong with discussing race and looking at the impact of Britain's history, including its unpleasant aspects. But there are umpteen aspects of Critical Race Theory which are unscientific, insulting, stereotypical, and harmful to everyone (including those it's supposed to benefit). Discussing and unpacking race can be done in a genuinely thoughtful way without promoting CRT ideology.

Mine's the same about maths, though he's not super-gifted, he's good at it and really loves it, talks maths constantly.

Weapons of math destruction, one of the books mentioned, is a very insightful book on how maths can be and is misused. It is not woke extremism.

So I'd be interested in understanding to what extent the school promotes healthy discussions on these topics, and to what extent it peddles the typical woke, critical race theory, "you are guilty just for being white and all white people are racist" bull.

For example, this "debate" by woke American loonies on how focusing on the right answer would allegedly be racist is a typical example of the new lows that can be reached by batshit crazy woke extremists - and I say this as someone who has always voted Labour.

https://medium.com/arc-digital/mathgate-or-the-battle-of-two-plus-two-ed4af5f32933

https://www.wsj.com/articles/in-california-2-2-4-may-be-thought-racist-11621876555

The irony is that the extremists in question were too ignorant to know that 2+2=5 was an example in Orwell's 1984, on how the regime distorts the truth.

If a child writes 1+1=10, you don't tell them that it is correct in binary, you tell them 1+1 = 2, and you teach binary only on the more advanced courses.

I do not want to address the issues raised by the original poster as these are raised out of context (the school provides quite a variety of material to students to encourage debate and discussion on topics they likely encounter all around them and to think critically for themselves so a selective presentation in this forum is highly suspect). I can only guess this is a person with a grudge against the highly successful school or who has themselves seen only some of the material and mistaken the context. I cannot know and I give them the benefit of doubt. However as a parent associated with the school I present my own experience with the school so that others considering the school can think about what the school provides: it is a top quality Maths school which also extends children through a variety of subjects and activities. The teachers are passionate and engage with respect and kindness with all the children. There is a genuine sense of being a close knit and caring community. For instance, in a recent social event where the children played beautiful classical music for attending parents and teachers, their friends stood nearby to cheer them afterwards and congratulate them. The students help each other with competition preparation and applications. There is so much team spirit. I have met many other parents who are absolutely delighted with the effort the school puts in for the children. All that can be so easily opened up to malicious and/or speculative commenting so do make up your minds on whether your children should apply to KCLMS based on the results the school achieves, the reports from other people whose children have gone here (such as myself), and the reality of what education is supposed to achieve: broaden our children's minds and enrich their lives.

@Piman you do know that several things can be true at the same time?

The school may (or may not) be all of these things you have said, but there is also no doubt in my mind that they are pushing a non-sensical ideology that directly harms children, women, LGB people and free speech.

If it’s a sixth form college only, and your child worships maths, I’m sure you could send them with the strength of character to just ignore anything that isn’t maths. My ds used to have to sit in government mandated pshe lessons (which included all sorts of stuff like anal sex tips) and he said he just didn’t listen to any of it.

Not at that school

People have anal sex. Both gay and straight. Teaching how to have safe anal sex is actually pretty important.

FYI anal sex is not very safe for women and girls

www.theguardian.com/society/2022/aug/11/rise-in-popularity-of-anal-sex-has-led-to-health-problems-for-women

This thread came back to the top of my Threads I'm On today.

The idea is basically that the concept of right and wrong answers is also fundamentally oppressive.

Does this idea extend to engineers and architects and other professions where a wrong answer can cost lives?

In America, yes. Even in air traffic control, standards have been drastically reduced in service of the DEI gods. Strange as surely black people also want their doctors and air traffic controllers to be the most qualified people possible.

Isn't this exactly what Trump was saying after the recent Washington DC air crash? Was he wrong?

Trump baselessly blames DEI and Democrats for Washington DC plane crash | Washington DC plane crash | The Guardian

@Leafstamp It's actually not that safe for anyone, gay men have a lot of problems too. (I'm the L from LGB, before anyone jumps to assuming homophobia.)