Still Asleep at the Wheel: A Further Examination of Gender and Safeguarding in Schools - Policy Exchange

[IwantToRetire]

A new report by Policy Exchange reveals that secondary schools in England are still heavily influenced by gender ideology. Too many secondary schools are socially transitioning gender-distressed children without reliably informing parents, failing to adhere to their safeguarding responsibilities and compromising the rights and interests of other children in school.

The report includes FOI research assessing schools’ policies, replicating an identical round of FOI research carried out for Asleep at the Wheel: An Examination of Gender and Safeguarding in Schools in 2023.

Despite some progress, particularly regarding the provision of single-sex toilets and changing rooms, we found that many schools still lack adequate policies. In a minority of schools, it appears that contested beliefs about gender identity remain embedded: staff support children to begin a social transition in the school environment and teach contested ideas as fact. In other schools, staff are failing to uphold their safeguarding duties, as they do not reliably involve parents, the Designated Safeguarding Lead, or a medical professional. The interests of other children are often compromised, as all children are required adopt a transitioning child’s new name and pronouns.

Moreover, many schools permit a child to self-identify as a different gender and participate in sports activities with opposite sex. We found that:

• 70% and 73% of schools maintain single-sex toilets and changing rooms.
• 43% of secondary schools reliably inform parents when a child discloses feelings of gender distress.
• 58% of schools reliably involve a safeguarding lead or medical professional in these cases.

More than one third of schools do not maintain single-sex sports.
The report calls for the Government to amend the draft statutory guidance, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026, on which it is currently consulting.

As Baroness Falkner of Margravine, former Chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said in her Foreword to the report:

“Schools require greater clarity and authoritative guidance, consistently enforced. They carry a significant responsibility and must be supported to understand how to discharge their duties lawfully, consistently, and with confidence.”

https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/still-asleep-at-the-wheel/

That was the most mannish thing ive ever heard anyone say here.

Thank you. But I was more wondering what your training is? What your qualifications are?

Because, as I said, you seems to have had different training to the safeguarding leads on the thread.

I have had actual training if that's what you mean, yes. Actually training and real life experiences with the complexity of real world situations. Safeguarding doesnt have a one size fits all approach. What you see on this thread are a bunch of people who are using safeguarding terminology to support their view of why parents should always be told their kid is speaking about trans stuff. Merely because they want to ensure they'd always be told. It doesnt make any of it true.

The voice of the child is very important. When things go wrong, it is often because the child wasn't heard and the adults involved were more interested in appeasing each other. Particularly the professional appeasing the parent to the detriment of the child.

What you see on this thread are a bunch of people who are using safeguarding terminology to support their view of why parents should always be told their kid is speaking about trans stuff.

Not really, no. I'm seeing people who are highly trained in safeguarding not allowing individuals to affect the principles.

Forgive me for saying this, but your viewpoint comes across as highly personalised, due to your own experience with your parent(s). Not objective.

What you see on this thread are a bunch of people who are using safeguarding terminology to support their view of why parents should always be told their kid is speaking about trans stuff

If you think that there are instances regarding the safety of the child where parents should not be told, do you believe that those situations are very rare and that telling parents should be the default?

No. I think that because I have had numerous conversations with senior staff including DSL and the Head and they were extremely ill informed. Not that they didn’t take a particular view- they didn’t know anything.

I don’t subscribe to gender stereotypes. But this is me.
https://www.gbnews.com/news/trans-school-court-changing-rooms

the professionals should be very very afraid.

And therein lies the entire problem with schools going along with a child social transitioning at all - because whether or not the parents of the transitioning child were told (we can hope they were, but as we have seen, there are some who would disagree) not a single other parent was. This, despite the fact that the safety, privacy, dignity - and right to speak the truth - of every other child in the school is potentially affected by one single transitioning child.

@GlovedhandsCecilia, how would you deal with safeguarding for all those other children? You seem to believe children should be centred in the discussion - should these children be allowed to say they want truly single sex spaces without the school saying that Johnny-now-Jane is actually a girl and is allowed to use their changing room?

Tbh, the discussion happening on this thread is often mirrored in schools where one person with limited knowledge / understanding repeatedly voices their personal views on a situation without knowing or understanding all the complexities.
It's why referring concerns to the DSL is the priority in a school and that usually stops the professionally dangerous individuals from being able to influence.

I'll say it again. Our safeguarding guidance is built on tragedy and loss and what we've learnt from past errors. As a society and in schools we don't always get safeguarding children right. But insisting that adults in schools must share concerns and not keep secrets is basic practice.

Of course it also protects the careers of naive or arrogant adults who think they know better.

This, 100%

Yep 🎯

I concur wholeheartedly. Through all of my own personal experience I have learned a lot more about safeguarding and the history and it’s plainly obvious that although it still happens, the dramatic reduction in sexual abuse, physical assault, mistreatment of children by parents by teachers by organisations that should know better has been reduced because of blanket safeguarding measures and protocols that are now in place. they are not perfect but they are a lot better than what they were, which was a position of secrecy hidden decisions hiding things from everybody

everything out in the open. It’s the best way forward.

In the case of many of those "professionals" they are disregarding the law.

This. ^^

You know when i said that man thing, it wasnt a compliment. The way you talk reeks of toxic masculinity. Why would you want professionals to be "afraid"?

I dont think that jonny now Jane should be in the female changing rooms and havent said otherwise.

All I've said it that it isnt always the right thing for the child to be forced to disclose to their parents.

Now you have this angry man in the thread talking to me, too.

Because they are breaking the law, they are denying that they are doing so, and @SingleSexSpacesInSchools is taking them to court over it.

With, it should be said, the support of hundreds of women on this site.

Or they found the conversations you wanted to have irrelevant.

@GlovedhandsCecilia

Now you have this angry man in the thread talking to me, too.

I’m sorry, what? It’s my fault that other posters have eyes and can read and respond to what you have written? It couldn’t possibly be your fault for writing them?

Crumbs.

I am quite, quite OK with that.

That you think advocating for my daughter is "toxic masculinity" whatever that even is, shines a light on what a compliant, don't make a fuss or rock the boat person you are - content to cede control and decisions to the so called professionals, despite clear evidence that they cause harm.

It's people like you who allow the bad things to happen.

I am standing up to be counted, whatever the cost, because doing the right thing however uncomfortable it might be, however much you have been conditioned to sit down and shut up, is NOT the way we build a better world.

And without the support of hundreds of women here, their advice, support and encouragement there is no doubt in my mind I would not have been able to get as far as we have and I am eternally grateful to everyone here.

Advocating for your daughter doesnt mean using fear and intimidation or violence and violent language to get your way. This is what men get wrong. It also aligns with what other people say about you on here.

Not sure you've understood why SSSS is on this board? He's legally challenging his daughter's school who are illegally compelling girls to undress in changing rooms with teenage boys present.

I also hope the adults responsible for this do feel afraid - they should also feel embarrassed and ashamed for their failure to safeguard girls. If you read his threads you would see he's tried every possible strategy to get the school to safeguard girls - all of which have been dismissed.

I'm generally not in favour of teachers and schools being dragged through the courts. But when they refuse to safeguard children, when they ignore the law, then that's all parents have left and I fully support his actions.

In a nutshell, this is why people like you never change the status quo.

That you think taking a stand is "violence", I'm just staggered.

GlovedhandsCecilia

Is this another instance where you haven't informed yourself about what's going on? And are just judging based on instinct?

Knowing that parents of daughters have found out that they are expecting these girls to take their clothes off in front of boys should absolutely engender feelings of fear in the perpetrators.