Has anyone come across People Changing Minds in school PSHE?

[CyanExpert]

People Changing Minds - external resource being used inside schools for PSHE, does anyone know them? They are coming into my child's school and I am curious on their angle.

It's worth noting that as a sole trader, Henry Hudson (as People Change Minds), does not need to register with Companies House, only HMRC. So there is no public access to his accounts, and, therefore, no public oversight of his income or outgoings.

There are still safeguarding regulations he will need to abide by, but, as I say, there is no indication of a safeguarding policy on his website.

So he is basically Del Trotter: "No income tax, no VAT, no money back, no guarantee."

This phrasing is key here. It reminds me a lot of how my daughters' school (ex-school for my oldest, who has now done her GCSEs and left) positions it as a kindness and a matter of respect to use language which validates and affirms someone's gender identity.

What this achieves, as demonstrated above, is removing the child from the reality of their sex.

Funnily enough, I was hearing this explanation just this evening about why a relative used someone’s preferred pronouns. In this case, it was using they/them. It wasn’t the right place to have a full on conversation but I wanted to point out the illogic of confusing gender and sex, which I hear all the time. But removing the person from the reality of their sex and reinforcing the idea that this is possible and preferable is so damaging.

I'd be asking what education related qualifications he has for working in schools with childre ? Child psychology, mental health? wellbeing? teaching qualifications? enhanced DBS?

If I recall correctly, the guidelines @BonfireLady linked upthread reminds schools that they are solely responsible for everything that external organsations teach to children with an implicit warning about outsourcing sensitive subjects to random external people.

Parents are also entitled to see all materials used with students so I'd ask to see a copy of all materials he'll be using before he gets near any students.

But removing the person from the reality of their sex and reinforcing the idea that this is possible and preferable is so damaging.

Absolutely. When I think back to the time that my daughter was actively gender questioning and said she didn't know if she wanted to be a girl, she said she was thinking about "they/them" but leaning towards "he/him" and hadn't decided yet. I told her that I fully supported her exploring her thoughts on all of this but that she could not take any steps that removed her away from the reality of being a female until the end of this exploration, including stating any change in preferred pronouns.

Slowly, over time, she becoming used to the reality of her body. She still hates her breasts (uses sports bras to flatten them) and still hates periods (only gets them occasionally, owing to being on the mini-pill) but the important thing is that she understands that she is biologically female and that this can never be changed. She also understands that preferred pronouns are controversial and that although she uses these herself for trans-identifying children that she knows, not everyone does - including me. She knows that instead I avoid using any third person pronouns in such situations.

She is often mistaken as a boy. I asked her recently how this made her feel. I did so with a deliberately leading question: "I think you quite like being mistaken for a boy. Is that right?". She said yes, it's great. I just smile at people and say "No, I'm a girl. I've just got short hair and I wear boys' clothes" 👏👏 We've talked quite a bit about how it's a shame that people seem to have forgotten that girls can have short hair. It's activism like that being peddled by this PHSE provider that is driving this.

Actually, she doesn't always like being mistaken for a boy. Until very recently she wouldn't go into the ladies' loos in public places without air cover from me because she didn't like the weird looks she got. Also she still gets panic-stricken at airports when she's selected for a security pat-down and a bloke starts walking towards her. I get a very frantic "Mum... explain!". So I do. I say very matter of factly that she's a girl and I ask for the female security guard to check her. The security guards get sheepish and apologise but I smile and say it's really not a problem.

For context we're over 4 years on from when this journey started, just after she turned 13. The school and I were at odds on how to support her the whole time, meaning that they managed me as a safeguarding risk to her. That's too much of a derail for this thread but suffice to say it's been a hideous rollercoaster and I'm glad she's no longer there.Thankfully the DSL at her college has a very different take on things.

The key point being that professionals in schools (and wider support networks e.g. mental health) need a full understanding of what social transition means and why it's not a neutral act. Without this, they'll be at risk of bringing in providers such as this one.

Thanks all, for advice and internet research. I've written to the head of PSHE, referencing the RSE guidelines (not taking sides and only teaching facts) and some of the content of his podcast which I find troubling. He makes reference to heightened risk of suicide for trans kids which I think goes against the best practice of how to discuss suicide (complex issue, shouldn't be simplified to one thing, shouldn't be linked to a characteristic in kids minds that they may share). I reference Prof Louis Appleby (UK govt expert) and the report he wrote de-bunking the Good Law Project scaremongering.

It's all so incredibly tedious that we have to keep doing this, just to point out reality. Sigh ... what times we live in.

Well done OP. It might be worth copying your letter to the Head. Sometimes Heads are unaware / complacent about what's going on in PSHE, just assuming that all is OK. It's only when someone raises the legal hazards / undermining of the law and safeguarding that they get twitchy and start asking the questions that should have been asked from the outset.
Professionally it's also supportive as it ensures that the Head of PSHE gets relevant professional and management support and doesn't get distracted into waging an inappropriate campaign on behalf of an external speaker.

This man has a personal, self invested agenda. There's limited evidence that he's in any way qualified to gaslight children like this or that the school should offer up children for him to share his views with.

When copying the Head in, it may also be worth asking if the materials that the school plans to use have been endorsed by the PSHE Association:

https://pshe-association.org.uk/news/clarity-on-what-resources-we-endorse

This is a government-funded body which assists schools in selecting and delivering PSHE materials. I think they are referenced in the RSE guidance but it's worth a check.

@CyanExpert good luck with your correspondence, and I hope you get some useful replies, rather than the standard "we're right, you're wrong" non-responses.