What's best in this field trip situation?

[Shadowboy]

I'm currently on maternity leave but return in a month. Last June we gave out letters regarding a field trip for 1 week to a European destination (I do t want to reveal where as I don't want to out the school) 60% of our cohort is attending in the year group. Before I left for maternity I booked hotel/centres for the two locations we will be in. The rooms are split girls on top floor in rooms of either two or four (hotel all in pairs) and boys in 1st floor. 2 members of staff on the top floor and 3 on the 1st floor.
Last Friday I received an email from a parent of a student who was when I last saw him a male. His (or her I really need to know the correct etiquette for this!) mother has asked for her to be roomed on the same floor as the girls as she is now fully engaged in being considered of the female gender. I have contacted the hotel and they have no rooms left. The centre has a spare but it's the other end of the centre in an annex.

I did find another hotel but it's more expensive (fancy place!) and would mean £57 more per student for the trip.

We have a contingency fund but not at a rate of £57 AND enough to cover any other issues. Do I ask two members of staff to share a room (issue is I have booked double beds so they would actually have to share a bed! But this would free up a room on the correct floor)

We have also never let students sleep in rooms alone (a safety issue when abroad but I'm not comfortable asking girls to share with a student who they 8 months ago believed was male)

I'm not even actually back in work officially yet but the trip is in 6 weeks so I need to sort it ASAP. My line manager has no idea what to do as we've never come across this at short notice. What would you do?!!

Also, are there insurance issues to be considered? If any of this would invalidate your trip insurance, then game over I suspect.

If a teacher and two pupils stays elsewhere there could be issues with ratios. It also puts the teacher in a compromising position. It also gives extra work for that teacher and the one that's still on the girls floor.
Plus latest guidelines stipulate that staff cannot be left alone so the one in the centre would need another adult. Although there are exceptions, this wouldn't fall into an exception.

The conditions of the trip (and safeguarding rules) are that students must share with a member of their own sex.

Unless you are prepared to bend the rules about single occupancy this child cannot go if they cannot accept those terms.

You must not consider placing a boy in a room with a girl, even if the girl and her parents 'consent'. You have a duty of care to the children to keep the sexes separate for sleeping arrangements.

Also if you bend the rules then you are opening a huge can of worms. Can you imagine next year all these boys iding as girls/girls iding as boys just to stay in the room with their girlfriend/boyfriend.
Teens are smart. Not saying all would do this but some would.

Annahibiscuits is quite correct. You would be in breach of the Equality act 2010 if you allowed a boy to sleep in a room with a girl. Sex is a protected characteristic ans sex-segregated sleeping arrangements are needed for obvious reasons.

Currently 'gender reassignment' is another protected characteristic in the EA 2010. This does not cover children who socially transition - this is not a legal status yet. I say yet because there is a private members bill going through parliament at the moment to change the protected characteristic to 'gender identity'. If this is voted through it will mean in examples like this you will have to treat any child or adult as whatever gender they identify as. Until this time you do not.

Are your ratios sufficient for one teacher to be in the annexe to free up a space for the child in the main accommodation? Would that work?

Or could the mother accompany and be accommodated, at a push (obviously paying)? If it really is too short notice to sort anything else out, I'd do that as a mother.

Depending on the age of the child, huh. My 11year old would rather not go, than have me go with her!!

Depending on how political this student is, you may find that sharing a room with a girl, i.e. being treated exactly like any other girl is the only option that's acceptable to them. If this is what is demanded and the demand is not met you are likely to get a lot of bad publicity. Not allowing male students (however they identify) to share bedrooms with girls may sound like common sense but it qualifies as transphobia these days and you are likely to find yourself - and the school - under attack by trans activists.

You would need a crb and chances are it won't be back in time

DBS are coming back in about 10 days at the moment for voluntary roles.

Regardless of 'what's acceptable' to the parent and/or child, OP has to work within current legislation, guidelines and risk assessments. If the parent's sole aim is somehow becoming a 'cause celebre' then the matter will end up in the media regardless. Either through the transchild's parent taking it there; the Fail picking it up from here or the other parents complaining if OP tries to put the transchild in a room with a female child.

Ok so after a lot of headache and lots of questions to senior management we are going to try and find a local nearby hotel to put two girls and a member of staff (so two rooms needed) so this frees up a room that this student can have on the girls floor. This feels safer than moving the student to a separate hotel as they would be sleeping alone. This also means taking an additional female member of staff to keep student to staff ratios within risk assessment criteria. The school have agreed to paying for this £900 approx cost for additional flights and accommodation- as long as we can get the flight on the same plane. For perspective we are taking 94 students. 48boys, 46 girls. (Or now I guess it's 47 boys and 47 girls)

We also have 2 native tour guides as additional members of staff during the day (plus the 2 coach drivers) but they are staying elsewhere.

See, I don't even think this child should be on the girls FLOOR, let alone share a room

Girls and boys have been separated by FLOORS, and that should be upheld as a safeguarding measure for the girls.

The floors are not separated on the basis of gender identity. EQualities Act again

Unacceptable IMO

Why the he'll should 2 girls be segregated INTO ANOTHER HOTEL. I'd be playing he'll as the parents of those girls

That boy, should not be housed on the girls floor

HAVE YOU DONE A RISK ASSESSMENT of the girls or just had a chat about how to appease the trans family?

Not sure why there is a need to shout tbh.

How will you decide which two girls get segregated into another hotel? If I were a parent of one of them I'd be mightily unimpressed.

Shadow - I feel for you. So many of my DC trips ended up cancelled because of fitting round awkward criteria of accommodation, transport and numbers.

Whatever you do, make sure your back is covered, that staff high enough up are taking responsibility for any flack just in case, full risk assessment and preferably proper legal advice as to what is acceptable. Cross t's and dot i's with the paperwork.

I do think its unfair that 2 girls have to move to another hotel just to accommadate this boy.

Girls/women are always adjusting their lives to suit the needs of men/boys. Very little has changed in the last 100 years

I don't understand why the child in question isn't being accommodated in the extra hotel, and why 2 girls are being moved there instead?

The whole justification for having him housed on the girls floor, is so that he can have the same experience as 'all the other girls', not be excluded etc

But, it's ok for 2 actual girls to miss out on the experience and be excluded???

And compromise the privacy/dignity/safety of ALL the girls on the trip?

Because girls/females must always accomadate the menz Assasin

Any reluctance will be met with name calling and threats

Will you ask for two girls to volunteer? Presumably you won't be able to tell them why as that would mean discussing the child in question's gender identity with parents etc which I think is not allowed.

This is really not an acceptable solution. I've no desire to see the child feel miserable but the fact is, until they have transitioned they are biologically a boy and you are simply bending rules to allow him to stay on the same floor, plus you are comprising his safety by allowing him to stay in a room on his own. Never mind, the unfairness of separating and excluding the other 2 girls. I bet I'd end up being one of them, at that age, pushed around and told what's what, and gone along with it all, ruining my holiday experience.