A matter of concern
Dear Deputy Head
Thank you for your email, dated 26/01/2023.
On the 11th of January, we discussed the No Outsiders posters displayed in school, which show nine attributes or categories of people that are welcome in the school, and who are "equal". Eight of these attributes/categories are the EA 2010 protected characteristics, with their exact wording in law. The ninth category, which in law is "sex" has been replaced with "gender", which has no current definition in law.
My first concern is that this is at odds with the 2020 Department of Education RSE guidance, which states that outside agencies and resources must be checked by the school, to ensure that they comply with the Equality Act 2010. (A)
Please see below for excerpts, references and source links.
My second concern is that No Outsiders appears to have a political agenda, as shown by the investigation by Shelley Charlesworth, hosted by Transgender Trend (B). This investigation highlights the deliberate conflation of sex and gender, as well as Andrew Moffat's involvement as a co-presenter of a paper entitled "Queering the Body: Queering Primary Education". From the communication from the external provider, to the school, I would suggest that by saying "Everytime I re-order I do consider changing the gender bubble to a sex bubble", the external provider is acknowledging that they are aware the current poster is incorrect. By asking the school "(if you) think we should change the gender bubble in future" (back to sex)", it is to be noted that the external provider has clearly devolved a final opinion of this matter to the school, as though to remove liability from themselves.
Schools have a legal duty to remain politically impartial, and must not promote partisan political views, but should offer a balanced presentation of opposing views (C). Are there any resources used in school which highlight the importance, and protected status, of biological sex? As an initial step, there should be posters on display that correctly show the 9 protected characteristics of the Equality Act. Safe Schools Alliance have produced a free, downloadable copy, as an example of best practice (D). I am aware of schools who have removed the No Outsiders posters, due to parental complaints about their inaccuracy. The inclusion of sex as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act directly addresses the issue that people can be discriminated against due to their sex
It is important that young children are taught to use clear, defined language, to describe themselves and the world around them. Sex is not just whether a child is a boy or a girl. Sex is the difference between a cow and a bull, whether you will get an apple off your tree or a courgette off your plant. Sex is why we need bees and other pollinators. In comparison, definitions of gender by Stonewall (E), the UK Government (F) and the World Health Organisation (G) are all different, and all highlight how there is a social and cultural impact on how gender is understood.
If children cannot clearly describe their world and body, it places cracks in their safeguarding, especially with the most vulnerable children. From your own safeguarding policy, you state that "We give special consideration to children who:
have special educational needs or disabilities (SEND) or health conditions
may experience discrimination due to their race, ethnicity, religion, gender identification or sexuality
have English as an additional language (EAL)
are at risk of FGM, sexual exploitation, forced marriage, or radicalisation
By conflating sex and gender, this discriminates against students with SEND and EAL, who have an exceptional requirement for clear and defined language. In your own SEND policy, it is stated that "We recognise that it is necessary to ensure that the school’s curriculum is accessible to all children" and "Particular attention is given to those who may struggle to communicate with adults." Likewise, as gender is variously defined as having a social and cultural determination, the use of gender rather than sex discriminates against students of a different race, culture or ethnicity. It also does not allow for the clear safeguarding of female children at risk of FGM.
While I agree that the messages of equality and inclusion are important and such behaviour should be encouraged in school, I feel that accurate language around this is vital for the reasons stated above.
Consequently, I would like to see the school replace the misleading No Outsiders posters either with accurate EA posters such as the one from Safe Schools Alliance linked above.
Alternatively, it may be more appropriate to use something else entirely, with a more general message of us all being equal despite our differences.
I look forward to hearing from you,
References
A.
"When deciding on the external agencies and resources to use, you should make appropriate checks to ensure that the agencies’ approach to teaching relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education and the resources that they plan to use comply with:
the Equality Act 2010"
Source: Department for Education, Guidance; planning your relationship, sex and health education curriculum, September 2020
Link: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-your-relationships-sex-and-health-curriculum#using-external-agencies
Last accessed on: 24/01/2023
B.
Source: No Outsiders: Queering the Primary Classroom , Transgender Trend, April 2019
Link: https://www.transgendertrend.com/no-outsiders-queering-primary-classroom/
Last accessed on: 28/01/2023
C.
Source: Department for Education, Guidance; Political impartiality in schools, February 2022
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/political-impartiality-in-schools
Last accessed on: 28/01/2023
D.
Source: Safe Schools Alliance, Equality Act Protected Characteristics Poster
Link: https://safeschoolallianceuk.net/resources-2/factsheets/
Last accessed on: 28/01/2023
E.
Stonewall definition of gender; "Often expressed in terms of masculinity and femininity, gender is largely culturally determined and is assumed from the sex assigned at birth."
Source: List of LGBTQ terms, Stonewall
Link: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/list-lgbtq-terms
Last accessed on: 30/01/2023
F.
UK Government definition of gender; "a social construction relating to behaviours and attributes based on labels of masculinity and femininity"
Source: What is the difference between sex and gender? Office for National Statistics, UK Government, Feb 2019
Link: https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/whatisthedifferencebetweensexandgender/2019-02-21
Last accessed on: 30/01/2023
G.
WHO definition of gender; "refers to the characteristics of women, men, girls and boys that are socially constructed. This includes norms, behaviours and roles associated with being a woman, man, girl or boy, as well as relationships with others. As a social construct, gender varies from society to society and can change over time. Gender is hierarchical and produces inequalities."
Source: Gender, Health Topics, World Health Organisation
Link: https://www.who.int/europe/health-topics/gender#tab=tab_1
Last accessed on: 30/01/2023