Don’t call pupils girls...says girls’ school
TEACHERS at a leading all-female school have been ordered not to refer to its pupils as girls.
The ban is said to be to avoid upsetting youngsters who are questioning their gender.
And it comes despite the word featuring in the single-sex school’s name: Altrincham Grammar School for Girls.
The school, in Trafford, Greater Manchester, confirmed that the term will no longer be encouraged when staff address the pupils.
Principal Stephanie Gill said she wants to break what she describes as “ingrained habits in the way pupils are spoken to and spoken about”.
She wrote to parents: “We have moved to using gender neutral language in all our communications with students and parents. We know that for many transgender students being misgendered can be very hurtful.”
The school, which first opened its doors in 1910, educates 1,350 girls and was recently lauded as the best in the North-west of England
All of its students were awarded A*-C grades in last year’s GCSE exams and it is the largest single-sex grammar school in England.
One parent, who asked not to be named, said: “When I opened the letter I wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not.
“We are not even sure how many girls there are having issues with their gender, it could be there’s none.
“It all seems a bit potty to me, they are talking about diversity but it’s a girls-only school. How does that work?” Another adult said outside the school: “I think we live in an age where we have to respect everyone’s views, and if they have an issue around their gender we have to understand that.
“However, I may be old-fashioned but I think girls should be referred to as girls and boys should be referred to as boys.”
The letter went out to parents just before Christmas and adds: “We are conscious of recent figures which show that more than four in five trans young people have self-harmed and more than two in five have attempted to take their own life.
Applauded
“Everyone’s welcome here. Staff have embraced these changes and are doing their best to implement the new policy.”
Former children’s mental health tsar Natasha Devon applauded the school.
She said: “In order to be inclusive of everyone you just need to say ‘hello everyone’, instead of girls or boys – it’s not a massive leap to make.
“You always get this ‘PC gone mad’ argument whenever a new idea comes into the public sphere.
“I fully expect that in 10 years’ time this will just be something that everybody does.”
A statement issued by Altrincham Grammar said: “It’s important our students feel comfortable and able to bring their true selves to the learning environment.
“We welcome and celebrate diversity at our school and we will look at any measure, however small, to ensure the wellbeing of our staff and students.”
Four years ago the school, motto “Fortiter, Fideliter, Felicite” (Bravely, Faithfully, Cheerfully), found itself in the middle of a sexism row after a society started by pupils took part in a national campaign.
The campaign, titled “Who needs feminism?”, saw pupils post photographs of themselves holding placards expressing their views online.
Management at the school demanded pupils’ photos be removed after what one student described as a “torrent of degrading and explicitly sexual comments”.