Gathering advice on contacting primary schools which teach about gender identity

[Soverymuchfruit]

My lovely child will start primary school next September. The only nearby school is excellent in all other ways but the website says that they teach about gender identity. I think I should raise this with them in advance. (a) I have seen some "Jigsaw" materials and they are outright teaching sexism. (b) I do not want my child learning contested theories, with which I disagree, as facts. (c) DC is "gender non-conforming" -- by which I mean we have not enforced gender typical colours or haircut, but let them choose. Another word might be "normal". It is extraordinary, but I actually worry about the safety of this in a "gender identity confirming" environment.

I hoped the team on this board might link me to some resources to get me started. I've already found this thread on the Statutory guidance
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5374160-statutory-guidance-on-rse-and-health-education-now-out-from-dfe

What else? Probably others have had a similar experience, what did they write?

Good luck with this and great that you are raising it.

Giving this a bump, as I know there are threads on this already that will help, but can't remember the titles!

My kids went to a CofE primary and we don't believe in god. In some ways I see it in the same way, it isn't factual and some people are upset if you tell them you don't believe it. I can see how it's worth asking in what form this belief will be taught, but try to not let it bother you too much. Your kids will hear the sensible side from you and your family and at primary age they aren't caught up in social media. By the time they're at secondary school I suspect it won't be so fashionable or taught quite so much 🤞🏼

@deadpan C of E context, I agree. But my impression is that even a C of E school teaches "Christians believe....." rather than actually teaching Christian beliefs as fact. Whereas, I think gender identity theory has been taught as fact. This is a distinction that my child is very likely to pick up on!

@Soverymuchfruit As far as I'm aware the primary didn't teach Christianity as "Christians believe" it wasnt precursed with that. They prayed at the end of each day too. My youngest went to a Catholic secondary and they had regular prayers and there were icons of saints displayed on the walls of the RE room. They also had to take RE as a GCSE - something I didn't check before we sent him there.
As you can tell I don't have any problems with religion even though I don't have one. I do have problems with telling kids they can change sex but I'm assuming most schools these days will have a bit of that included in their blurb and websites, even if they don't actually teach it just so they look inclusive.
Id they and get the opinion of some parents of kids already at the school if you can

I don't think they're equivalent. If a child adopts Christian beliefs due to school indoctrination it doesn't lead them on a path to body mutilation.

Transgender Trend is a child / education centred organisation that has done lots of research into the many bad faith organisations using schools as a cover to promote age inappropriate ideas of gender identity, sex change etc. This link is a few years old but highlights problematic organisations pushing this nonsense at children.

https://www.transgendertrend.com/teaching-gender-ideology-schools/

Their Blog section has a wealth of materials, some about education, a lot about the NHS and all informed by the need to safeguard children:

https://www.transgendertrend.com/?cat=(id-cultural-influences-and-debate),(id-health-professionals-and-organisations

I think gender orientation is covered in the 2010 Equality Act, so I think you will struggle to find state schools that avoid it when they are teaching about relationships.

You do know that it is not always clear whether a child is male or female at birth, right? Back in the 1960s my DM used to work in a hospital lab and her job was to look at the chromosomes of people where it was not clear whether they are male or female. Incredibly rare, obviously, but not unheard of.

So it is talking about trans people that you are not happy with? Maybe just discuss it with your DC, but bearing in mind whet the law of the land is.

Schools are likely to be re writing (or waiting for providers to update) their PSHE/RSHE for next year given that the new statutory guidance applies from September 2026.

The protected characteristic is gender reassignment, and the new guidance says this about it:
Pupils should also be taught the facts and the law about biological sex and gender reassignment. This should recognise that people have legal rights by virtue of their biological sex which are different from the rights of those of the opposite sex with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment. Pupils should also be taught to recognise that people with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment, as with the other protected characteristics, have protection from discrimination and should be
treated with respect and dignity.

The " law of the land " is not to teach primary school children that they (and everyone else) has this indefinable thing called a 'gender identity' and that if they aren't a stereotypical boy/ girl they have been born in the wrong body.

Primary schools are not supposed to be teaching about gender identity as a factual concept, because it's a belief, nothing more.

The fact that some adults like to present as the opposite sex and that gender reassignment is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act is neither here nor there. Some adults do lots of stuff that little kids do not need to be taught about. Primary schools don't tend to teach about Acts of parliament, that's more a secondary school PSHE thing.

Sex and gender are not the same - presumably your mum could explain to you that she couldn't see 'gender' under the microscope because it doesn't exist . I don't believe for a moment telling the sex of babies was a regular part of your mums job - a vanishingly small number of babies are born with indeterminate sex - and what has that got to go with schools teaching about gender anyway?

Even in religious schools, RE is supposed to be framed as 'some people believe' not 'this is the one true faith'. The distinction could well be lost on primary age kids though.

My mum was looking at the chromosomes of people of all ages - it was less than 10 years after the double helix structure of DNA was discovered, so I’m guessing there were a ‘backlog’. I obviously can’t prove it but I don’t know why you think I’m making it up. She has a degree in biochemistry.

Best to do a bit of research about "the law of the land" before posting information that's inaccurate.

Trans activists have done a lot of harm with their gaslighting of young children that their bodies might be flawed but a sex change could be the cure. Parents are right to inform themselves about schools.

There have been too many witless activist teachers who're harming mentally vulnerable children by promoting political activism / queer theory rather than following their legal responsibilities to be politically impartial and to ensure that children are taught age appropriate facts and the truth.

Read the post by @TheFallenMadonna . She has clarified things.

I think gender orientation is covered in the 2010 Equality Act, so I think you will struggle to find state schools that avoid it when they are teaching about relationships

You might think that but you would be wrong

'Gender orientation' is not a PC in the EA2010. You are conflating gender reassignment and sexual orientation. Gender is also not a PC but sex is. If schools are going to cover this topic its important that they accurately identify all 9 of the PCs.

She's writing about schools updating policies in the light of the changes to the statutory guidance.
The OP is quite rightly concerned about whether a prospective primary school has adopted age inappropriate trans activist policies - which sadly there's a lot of evidence that some primary schools are still doing. Have a look at the links I provided upthread from Transgender Trend for some alarming evidence of this.

Yes and if that is guidance that schools are following, then it looks like the OP will struggle to find a school that is doing what she wants.

Thanks for the helpful links @MrsOvertonsWindow and @TheFallenMadonna .

To be clear, of course I don't object to my child being taught, at an age appropriate time, that trans people exist and should be treated with respect. Nor do I object to them being taught (at some point, NOT when aged 4!) that some people believe that "gender identity" is an innate thing -- as long as it is made clear that that this is a theory, not a scientific fact. (Preferably alongside the view that "gender" consists stereotypes that restrict us and we are better off trying to put them aside and live our best lives as we want to, within our (sexed) bodies. But I can teach that at home, at age-appropriate time, if I know gender id is coming at school.)

(Nor do I object to a bit of factual teaching about DSDs at an appropriate point, of course not, why would I?)

However, I DO object to my child being taught, at age 4-7, that gendered stereotypes define what your gender is and that that is an innate part of you. From what I've seen of jigsaw material, this is pretty much what is taught. See this:
https://stdavidsschool.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Jigsaw-Approach-to-Gender-Identity.pdf
(Billy only wants to play with boys' toys; Bella only wants to play with girls' toys; B is happy with either; now let's make sure we're kind to weird weird B. Wtf?! That's incredibly othering to a GNC child. Why not just say "There's no such thing as boy's toys or girls' toys; Billy and Bella probably haven't tried all the toys yet, now everyone, go and try a toy you've not tried before"?)

I guess my starting point is to contact the school and say that I know they use jigsaw and I've found this jigsaw lesson plan and I find it really concerning, do they take this approach? And how are they changing in the light of the update of the statutory guidance?

The guidance that @TheFallenMadonna is talking about are the individual school policies that should be based on the statutory guidance from the DfE.
What the OP and those of us experienced in education are highlighting is that there are countles trans / queer theory lobby groups who have self identified as experts despite their lack of knowledge of child development, education and safeguarding. These groups are writing materials for hard pressed, busy schools to supplement the DfE guidance - which is an overview and not detailed curriculum plans.
In these materials are often age inappropriate materials about GI. They're often polemics, not neutral, advocating sex change as positive for children with a political approach to the rights of women and girls and openly breaching basic safeguarding approaches. See the evidence in the Transgender Trend link above.

This thread from a few years ago highlights some of the issues about a group who planned a theatre performance aimed at 5 year olds plus where at some stage the performers would strip naked in front of the children. The performances were eventually cancelled but that's an example of a "sex positive" organisation, over keen on sharing their age inappropriate beliefs with children below the age of consent.

Lots of schools go nowhere near these dodgy organisations and teach child centred, age appropriate SRE. But some don't exercise due diligence and use some of these dodgy organisations / materials. And that's the problem.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4526569-This-charity-is-delivering-sex-education-in-schools

@plantcomplex nor do trans delusions (if that even really happens) in early primary school age kids when their parents have a grasp of reality.
Of course it isn't exactly the same, but at that age and with things moving in the right direction it's a similar scenario. They're beliefs based on fantasy

Jigsaw will need to update their materials to reflect the new statutory guidance. Looking at what is out there now is not going to tell you what will he used from September, because it isn't just policies that are being rewritten, it is curriculum as well.

Ah! Good point! We're lucky to be on the right side of the statutory guidance change.