Has anyone had a meeting with their child's school following non-acknowledgement of reciept of Transgender Trend Schools guide?

[Jog22]

I emailed it twice last year to head teacher - the second following an enquiry and being told they couldn't find it. I then handed in a printed copy with a covering letter. Again no acknowledgement. I'm told this is probably normal considering work load etc so am thinking the only way is to ask for a meeting. However I'm not sure how to go about it. I want to stay calm and articulate obviously but it's a subject that makes me irate and incoherent.

I imagine I would start from a safeguarding angle and asking for assurance that their material re PSHE and any special assemblies are not 'promoting' trans however how do I clearly delineate that I have no problem with the teaching of gay/lesbian awareness at the same time?

Any tips re meeting etiquette and content gratefully received.

It’s similar principles that therapists adhere to with minors. They make it very clear at the beginning of any counselling that everything discussed between the therapist and the child is confidential and that the ONLY time that confidence would be broken is if the child indicated they would hurt themselves or others.

Teachers are not therapists and there are very good reasons, to do with safeguarding children from abuse, that teachers do not keep secrets with children. Anyone challenging this is either dangerously ignorant in regard to safeguarding of vulnerable children or frankly downright suspect.

These are the guidelines that are currently adhered to within schools. Hopefully my explanation above helps explain why that is the case.

Trans-rights activists don't understand Safeguarding frameworks.
Its a systemic failing.

As truthisarevolutionaryact has explained this leaves the children questioning the gender identity/ who are trans especially vulnerable:

Schools manage this balance all the time and our safeguarding legislation is predicated on working in partnership with parents
In order to remove parental rights / responsibilities, authorities have to go to court. Trans groups are the only ones to recommend removing parental rights in this way - thus leaving this group of vulnerable children alienated from their families and not safeguarded by their schools

Let’s imagine that a teacher DID break a confidence and tell a child’s parents that they had been told by the child that they were trans?

A teacher should not be promising a child they can keep a secret for them in the first place.

RedHoodGirl
Your comments are wrong and very very dangerous. Individual teachers never make a decision to withhold information or to keep confidences by themselves. School safeguarding is governed by safeguarding policies (written in line with 'Working together to safeguard children'). Schools will also have pastoral care policies, anti bullying policies and possibly a confidentiality policy and these dictate what information a teacher must share within in a school.

You are making the same error as trans pressure groups do - assuming that individual teachers make decisions about confidentiality. But they don't - schools don't let them. We share all sorts of information about children that give us concern as, on occasions, all the small pieces fitted together to indicate a child at risk of significant harm. Individual teachers don't have the 'big picture' about a child, just as a school may not have the whole picture of a child's life - it's why safeguarding legislation is called 'Working Together'. Everyone shares information.

Our safeguarding history (seen in Serious Case Reviews) is littered with the careers of individuals and sometimes organisations who decided that they did not need to share critical information about a child with others - and children were abused as a result. I cannot stress how dangerous it is, both to adults working in schools let alone to vulnerable children to promote the lie that individual teachers can risk assess this type of information and decide to keep it confidential.

Coming out as trans may not be a safeguarding issue. But that is not for an individual to decide that alone. The disclosure must be shared in line with school policies and then decisions will be made about what to do and how to support the child.

I do hope that you don't work in a school if this is your understanding of safeguarding.

It's also worth pointing out that the comment: I can understand where children who are at risk (ie those living in potentially abusive households, are involved with drugs / criminal activity, are at risk of sexual exploitation) might need to be flagged by schools .. is desperately naive.
Children who are abused come from all types of backgrounds. It is that complacent 'abuse only happens to certain types of children' that has led to the torrent of abuse scandals in independent schools, specialist schools of music and sport, private tutors, gifted musicians, swimmers, footballers and endless other groups being targeted because people assumed that only a 'certain type' of child would be the target of abusers.

FFS, we know this stuff and yet people post rubbish like this

RedHoodGirl If you are in any way involved with the creation, implementation or promotion of the 'trans-rights' schools' policies please read very carefully the posts above by truth & Lumene

Safeguarding frameworks are there to protect children and vulnerable adults from risk. Disruption or denial of well-established principles and policies will always be exploited by those who intend to cause harm.

I've just read the below in www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/13620644/schools-transgender_guidance_booklet-2015.pdf
"It must be recognised that people have their own prejudices. A parent or guardian may not always be the most supportive or appropriate person to assist the young person through transitioning. It may not be necessary for a parent or guardian to provide permission for a Trans pupil or student to take steps to transition as there may be issues raised of Fraser competence if parents will not consent."

Is this Fraser/Gillick Competence Act?/Policy? the loophole used to get around telling parents?

"In all cases, the young person must be able to give properly informed consent to this intervention. This means that they must understand the implications of treatment, the risks and benefits, and the consequences of not having treatment (Fraser (otherwise Gillick) competence, "

This is from www.mermaidsuk.org.uk/assets/media/GIRES%20doh-children-and-adolescents.pdf

That's approved by the NHS, that's what a worried parent will be given by someone in authority. Must be ok then.

I would focus on the outcomes you want to ensure (eg single sex provision, normal safeguarding practice, no lobby groups teaching contested ideology)

And maybe point out that "self-ID" is not the law, and that the 2010 Equalities Act is still in force.

It seems to me that a lot of the real problems with organisations (Girl Guides, YHA) are because they assume that self-id is the law. They're jumping the gun - that may never (we hope) be fired.

Lumene
Re Is any of that advice from Twitter available elsewhere? I'm suspended and utilising the time away from it very productively (not addicted to Twitter at all oh no)

Jog22
Gillick competence is concerned with determining a child’s capacity to consent. Fraser guidelines are used specifically to decide if a child can consent to contraceptive or sexual health advice and treatment. Where transitioning fits into this is arguable.
Advising a school to make a decision about a child's competency in isolation is a massive overreach. These are complex areas. I've sat in a number of courts listening to barristers and judges arguing the level of competence that a child or an adult has in relation to issues of consent and listening to them discussing whether to remove parental responsibility from a neglectful parent - working out where the bar sits.

This is yet another example of trans 'advice' being professionally dangerous - advising schools to determine matters well beyond their level of competence.

CatandtheFiddle gives good advice about focus. As you can see from the length of my posts safeguarding is complex and multi faceted and it's hard to capture the issues succinctly.
Boundaries is a good word to use - people who try to erode boundaries are dangerous. Schools need to keep their boundaries clear. Their role is not to facilitate a child's transition or to enable anyone to drive a wedge between a child and their parents.

Then how can a teaching Union be recommending documents to their members which go against statutory guidance?

neu.org.uk/advice/supporting-trans-and-gender-questioning-students#how-do-i-respond-when-first-approached-by-a-pupil-andor-their-family-asking-for-help-with-gender-identity-issues

"The first thing to do is enter into a conversation with the young person and, only with their permission, with their family, in order to work though the questions below..."

Also should I really be crying now? and feeling like its all too late and that I should just watch some Housewives of Potomac instead before getting child?

I'm afraid that the reach of these organisations has been massive. I presume that using the hashtag #nodebate, labelling anyone who dares to mention women's rights, safeguarding or AGP as transphobic and making repeated threats has been very successful in silencing all opposition. As is demonstrated on this board on a daily basis.

We must continue to fight this.

Yes, the reach of these organisations is massive, and the infiltration runs deep, bit it takes ever such a long time to build a house of cards, and only a moment to knock it down.

The moment is coming.

The topdown approach (pincer movement) would be to write to your Local Safeguarding Children's Board, LSCB to ask them how they are dealing with the issues raised, and to ask the same question of the LADO, Local Authority Designated Officer. Let them know you have contacted the school, let the school know you have contacted them. Make clear you are seeking clarity where there is none - eg conflation of sex with gender, legal position on single-sex provision, status of lobby groups carrying out training - NOT dobbing schools in, hoping to support them & parents alike in this uncharted territory.