Can I withdraw Y6 DC from Trans-Ideological RSE Lesson?

[readingcat]

I have requested the lesson plan & materials for DC’s RSE lesson on gender next week. They are full of the prevailing ‘sex assigned at birth’, ‘cis women’, ‘sex is a spectrum’ stuff. One activity involves the kids having to explain why it’s wrong to only offer male & female as categories, pronouns etc. Many of the fiddly distinctions offered between categories of sexuality, romantic attraction, gender identity etc in the handout will be beyond a Y6, frankly. I will complain, of course, but it will only see me branded an evil Terf, I expect. Do I have the right to withdraw DC from the lesson and what else, if anything, can I do?

Well done readingcat. That's major progress in safeguarding yours and lots of other children from dangerous nonsense.

That's very encouraging!! Blimey well done OP

As Helen Joyce said on Saturday at conference: now is the time to be boring by which she meant sending the letters, checking the policies and being politely insistent.

👏👏👏

Thanks, all. Agree that calmly stating concerns in terms of school, DfE or govt policies and law is key. The other take-home here is that when I actually spoke to other parents and shared both my letter and the lesson resources, more and more started coming out of the woodwork and saying they agreed. The more we normalise objecting to trans ideology as a valid and permissible concern, the more others will have the courage to do so too.

Well done OP. That’s a much better result - the children learn off each other, so sometimes one child missing the lesson makes no difference. No child being exposed to this rubbish this time round is a definite win. Hope they change the lesson plan completely - as a private school, the more parents let school know how they feel, the more likely the school will comply

Beautiful, just beautiful @readingcat

I've emailed my DD's school with my concerns now. Waiting to hear back, and probably be dismissed. Oh how I would love them to be reasonable.

Good for you, @Vebrithien! Let us. know how you get on.

Good for you and the other parents, readingcat

Well done!

ResisterRex · 03/02/2023 19:31
Year 6 is primary, right? Yes I think you can:

www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-your-relationships-sex-and-health-curriculum#right-to-request-withdrawal

I thought it was compulsory even in Primary Schools.

Absolutely agree, well done OP. Would you mind sharing your letter to the school? Understand if you'd rather not.

Well done OP & thanks for the update! Could I ask how would we be able to know which week of RSE would be this gender ideology sort of thing? Did your school send out outlines or did you ask every week on what they will cover? Thanks!

This seems to be a reasonable place for this... BBC 4 are showing a film called On The Basis of Sex.

They describe it: Ruth Bader Ginsberg works with her husband to bring a groundbreaking case of gender discrimination.

FFS, Beeb! The clue's in the fucking title.

SinnerBoy · Today 22:23
This seems to be a reasonable place for this... BBC 4 are showing a film called On The Basis of Sex.

They describe it: Ruth Bader Ginsberg works with her husband to bring a groundbreaking case of gender discrimination.

FFS, Beeb! The clue's in the fucking title.

Yes, and given the theme of law, and that in the U.K. we have the Equality Act with Sex as one of the nine characteristics not to be discriminated against, and Gender Reassignment as another altogether, the BBC is misrepresenting the law.

Thinking about the law,
if you haven’t before, please consider signing and sharing this petition to update the Equality Act to make clear the characteristic ‘sex’ is biological sex, not sex as modified by a gender recognition certificate.
To sign
⬇️
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/623243

@PragmaticWench I won't share the letter here as it contains too many identifying details about the school and its internal policy documents, but more than happy to talk to anyone writing their own letter via PM.

@FlawlessSquid I only discovered the content and scheduling of the lesson by asking. I had long before checked the school's RSE policy and been reassured that it did not include transgender issues for teaching in Y6; it did, however, refer to 'gender stereotyping' (certain jobs being for men or women e.g.) and the unit was sneaked it in under this label, I suspect by a zealous new young hire. I only asked for the course materials and timing of the session once parents were reminded by the school central messaging system that a lesson on 'gender' would be taking place that week, and my Spidey senses were activated.