Secondary School mixed sex changing rooms complaint: Update from school (again)

[TangenitalContrivences]

Hello everyone - Have just received a further update from my daughters (14) secondary school (Brighton) regarding my complaint - which is at stage 2 - go to governors complaint, and my further email to the school asking them to comply with the EHRC interim guidance.

I'll copy both responses below, redacted.

I would very, very much appreciate specific feedback to include in my responses to the school, it's been people here (and elsewhere) who have helped me put together really powerful letters that have clearly rattled the school.

However - there is still a male in the female changing spaces at this school. Therefore it is mixed sex.

(link to the last discussion if you want context https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5309038-secondary-school-complaint-about-mixed-sex-changing-rooms-update-school-response-and-request-for-help-writing-the-escalated-complaint-to-governors )

Thank you hugely.

Why? Because all, and I mean ALL Brighton schools are entirely captured. The council has strong armed them into using the trans toolkit and they all do, to the hilt.

They are so deep, they cannot back out now.

I have seen the legal opinion, and indeed quoted it in the earlier emails (there are loads, don't worry you did not see them)

The schools however - do not care in the slightest and carry on regardless. Who will stop them?

Can I ask when your DD next has PE/swimming? Just wondering if the school is still letting this boy in the girls' changing room whilst delaying and dicking about with the complaint?

I discovered, last year, that a boy was being allowed to use the girls' toilets in my DD's Y5 class

I emailed the head for clarity and reassurance that the toilets were SS and, basically, was patronised within an inch of my life and called a bigot.

I was also told, by the head, that by bringing the school's unlawful policy to the school's attention I was responsible for this child and his family's emotional distress because he'd now have to use the staff/disabled loo.

The child is, in my opinion, probably a gay little boy who liked knocking around with the girls and started to wear dresses in Y4. At first I was pleased that he was a gender non conforming lad with a boy's name and naively believed his parents were steering clear of the gender woo trans trap

Unfortunately DD came home next term and said that 'Jack' was now 'Poppy' and the kids were to call him that.

This is a boy who I still have over for tea and to play with DD and feel so sorry for this pathway he's been put on by the be kinders etc.

When I discovered he'd started using the girls' toilets I spoke to other parents of girls in the class who were all horrified. Thank fuck that head teacher has left now, I'm normally super supportive of teachers and know the shit they face daily but that bloke was horrible.

The boy in DD's class now uses the alternative loo since I reminded school about their legal safeguarding obligations but I do worry for this child who's been transed at such a young age.

My DS17 (who wore his sister's dresses, had long hair and was obsessed with 'girl's' toys when little) said "I wanted to be a tractor when I was five, imagine if you'd chopped my legs off and gave me wheels?!"

You're doing stellar work @TangenitalContrivences and you have countless MNers cheering you on

What's your current strategy, @TangenitalContrivences ?are you thinking you'll contact ofsted or lado? Or are you happy to wait for school to review post full ehrc guidance end of June?

Would an ofsted complaint be looked at by a local Brighton ofsted team or national does anyone know?

Ps I'm cheering you on too. Think your letters are great!

both. Not happy to wait for the school. They will filibuster

Just need to get he time to sit down properly and sort everything out, well busy here.

I have just found out James Esses would be able to shine more light on the situation as well

@TangenitalContrivences i wish you all the best for your fight ,which really shouldn’t need to happen. Both my girls are in classes with trans identified kids at secondary ( we also had 2 trans identifying children at our primary) …the saving grace is that my kids both attend an all girls state school ( go figure) so these trans identifying children ,who both have autism and substantial other challenges to deal with, can have time and space to work themselves out without ever having the option of a school socially transitioning them by letting them use boys single sex facilities or otherwise pretending they are boys.

@CaptainAwkward this comes straight from the Head, all the way down and through the school. It's every class, every teacher. Every changing room, every toilet. The rot goes to the bottom, but starts at the head.

It's probably the most captured school int he most captured city in the country.

It would be interesting to see what James Esses comes back with.
I'd wish you good luck but I don't think it's a question of luck, the true issue is that single sex facilities are vital and must be provided in schools.

James Esses has truly been through the fight in this so would be a great person to speak to.

Change that heading to "Transwomen teachers MUST be allowed to supervise the girls changing room" and see what happens.

That's really what the NEU is demanding.

You, by the sounds of it.

This is my union (happily I am retired!). The latest union magazine contains a resume of the conference including a report on the LGBT+ meeting, written by someone who is 'they/them'. A picture accompanies the article, showing 3 men and what appears to be a transwoman, i.e. a man.
There will be campaigns to change the EA2010 to make sex 'certified sex' (because that is what the NEU is advocating here by implication), so the fight continues and will until this regressive ideology is defeated.

Trades unions seem to have completely lost sight of what their core purpose is. With hardly any exceptions, unfortunately. What happened to old-fashioned ideas like supporting their members when they are treated unfairly by management?

In case of use / interest: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyvnnxxvwxo.amp

My old union as well. The problem is that these activists are eradicating safeguarding, ignoring the risks to teenagers of exposing them to charges of voyeurism and indecent exposure while ignoring some of the excruciating angst that so many teenagers feel about their developing bodies that makes them so vulnerable to the "born in the wrong body" fantasy.
The unions captured stance means that responsible teachers have no protection if they raise concerns and that the needs of children are abandoned in favour of queer theory.

It’s really scary actually that councils in the UK of all places and other public institutions are ignoring the stated law for political reasons. Whatever your beliefs, anyone with respect for the rule of law must see the dangers in this. If you disagree with the law, then you seek to change it through lawful democratic means - you don’t ignore it.

It looks like litigation is the only way to get them to respect the law. I’m not clear whether that will be an injunction to prevent them issuing or relying on unlawful guidance at local authority or school level or whether it’s a judicial review job. It’s astounding that more public money will be spent defending unlawful action.

Yes they do. This was in the last minutes (February 2025)...

"Trans Toolkit - The Local Authority had completed the review of the toolkit.
Correspondence had been received from an organised campaign in objection to
some aspects of the toolkit. The Headteacher and Chair of Governors felt that
points made in the consultation around the role of governors and liability of
schools had not been fully addressed in the redrafted document and had
therefore set up a meeting with members of the legal team at the Local Authority
to seek clarification. The complaint around the handling of trans issues that had
been subject of previous discussions by the Board had been reviewed by the
Department of Education with no fault found by the School in terms of how the
complaint was handled."

I just did - the name is there, the email is not, only the clerks email

Out of interest i checked for my local primary school, and it's the same, the governors are listed with their areas of expertise and links to the school, e.g. is finance director at x company and has a pupil in year 1, but the only email address is the clerk's.

Correspondence had been received from an organised campaign ...

I wonder if similar representations from TRA campaigners are described in the same way?

Shock horror parents talk to and support each other.

Are there no end to the machiavellian tactics of people just not submitting and doing what they're told by their betters?

In my secondary teaching days, if students wanted changes to uniform, lunches, all sorts of things, we used to encourage them to organise a campaign and work together to make it happen. How strange that this now seen by some schools as sinister.

"Grassroots organisation of workers and peasants..."

Victor Jara! Joe Hill! Sacco and Vanzetti! 😄

Draft LADO letter - any and all feedback gratefully received on this draft letter:

Subject: Urgent Safeguarding Complaint – xxxxx School Non-Compliance with Legal Safeguarding Duties

Dear [LADO’s Name],

I am writing to formally report a series of safeguarding failures at xxx School in Brighton, where I am the parent of two pupils. These failures relate to the school’s refusal to act on binding legal obligations under the Equality Act 2010 as recently clarified by the UK Supreme Court, and further supported by interim guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). I believe these actions – and inactions – constitute a serious breach of the school’s legal safeguarding duties, placing children at unnecessary risk.

⸻

1. Background and Legal Context

In April 2025, the UK Supreme Court ruled in the case of For Women Scotland v The Scottish Ministers [2024] UKSC 5 that the term “sex” in the Equality Act 2010 means biological sex. This ruling is now binding across all sectors, including education. The Equality Act explicitly allows single-sex facilities where justified, and schools are under a statutory obligation to provide single-sex toilets for children aged 8+, and single-sex changing rooms for children aged 11+, under the School Premises (England) Regulations 2012.

On 24 April 2025, the EHRC issued an interim update on the practical implications of the Supreme Court ruling, including this unambiguous direction:

“Pupils who identify as trans girls (biological boys) should not be permitted to use the girls’ toilet or changing facilities, and pupils who identify as trans boys (biological girls) should not be permitted to use the boys’ toilet or changing facilities. Suitable alternative provisions may be required.”

⸻

2. Safeguarding Concerns

Xxxx School has consistently failed to uphold these legal obligations. Despite repeated requests over several months, the school:
• Maintains a “case-by-case” approach to toilet and changing room access, directly contradicting the law.
• Refuses to confirm whether biological males are currently using female-designated facilities.
• Has declined to act even after receiving the EHRC’s interim guidance and full citations of legal rulings.
• Continues to frame these matters as awaiting future “guidance,” thereby ignoring binding Supreme Court law.
• Has not provided any evidence of risk assessments, policy reviews, or insurer notifications.
• Refused to confirm that the governing body has been fully informed of the legal risk and safeguarding exposure.

Most disturbingly, the school has not confirmed that:
• Male pupils are currently excluded from female toilets and changing rooms.
• “Case-by-case” policies have been suspended or replaced with sex-based safeguarding policies.
• Staff have been appropriately updated and trained on the new legal requirements.

These failures expose all pupils to unnecessary safeguarding risk — especially girls, who are more vulnerable to sexual harassment, and boys, who may be placed in legally risky and inappropriate situations. The safeguarding failure here is not just theoretical. As Ofsted noted in its 2021 report on sexual abuse in schools, many incidents go unreported, and failure to act on even minor policy breaches can result in serious harm.

⸻

3. Correspondence Timeline

I have contacted the school extensively. The following is a high-level summary:
• October 2024–April 2025: Numerous safeguarding concerns raised with the school around mixed-sex facilities, compelled pronoun use, and safeguarding risk to my children.
• 26 April 2025: I submitted a formal Stage 2 complaint to the governors detailing 13 urgent safeguarding and legal compliance failures.
• 29 April 2025: I wrote to the Headteacher and Senior Leadership Team, citing the EHRC’s interim guidance and the Supreme Court ruling, requesting immediate compliance and written confirmation of five specific safeguarding actions.
• 6 May 2025: I wrote again after receiving a dismissive response from the school. I reiterated that the school is bound by law and cannot “wait” for new guidance. I also asked if the school had informed its insurers of ongoing non-compliance.
• 15 May 2025: No reply was received. I informed the school that I would be contacting the LADO and Ofsted due to continued refusal to address the safeguarding breach.

All of these emails are fully documented and can be provided to you upon request.

⸻

4. Specific Failures I Am Reporting

I believe the following constitute actionable safeguarding concerns under your remit as LADO:
• The school is knowingly failing to uphold legal requirements regarding single-sex facilities.
• There has been no risk assessment shared with parents or confirmed by governors.
• The school has ignored both statutory safeguarding guidance (KCSIE 2024) and current equality law.
• There is a failure to notify and consult governors transparently, breaching good governance and oversight practices.
• The school has refused to implement temporary safeguarding measures, even while awaiting non-binding future guidance.
• Female and male pupils are being placed in inappropriate, high-risk environments, with no documentation or consent from parents.

⸻

5. My Request to You as LADO

I am asking that your office:
• Open a safeguarding enquiry into the school’s failure to act in compliance with the Equality Act and statutory safeguarding obligations.
• Request documentation from the school, including relevant risk assessments, safeguarding policies, and board-level minutes.
• Ensure the governors and safeguarding personnel are formally interviewed, and that interim safeguarding measures are immediately implemented.
• Confirm whether Brighton & Hove City Council has actively advised or endorsed the school’s position, and whether it is aware of this non-compliance.
• Offer clear advice to the school and governing body regarding their obligations under KCSIE 2024, the Supreme Court ruling, and the EHRC interim guidance.

⸻

6. Final Comments

This is not an issue of personal belief or ideology — it is a matter of legal compliance, safeguarding best practice, and the protection of vulnerable children.

I submit this complaint in good faith, as a parent, as a professional, and as someone deeply concerned about the integrity of safeguarding in our schools. I am more than happy to provide all correspondence to date, including my full complaint, the EHRC guidance, and legal citations.

I look forward to hearing from your office and am available at short notice to provide evidence or meet to discuss these matters further.

Yours sincerely,
Xxxx
Father of two pupils at xxxxx School

Next meeting is on the 17th...