Leading girls’ school that lets its pupils dress as boys
A TOP girls’ school has introduced a scheme under which pupils can apply to use boys’ names and wear male clothing.
St Paul’s Girls’ School drew up the ‘gender identity protocol’ after speaking to pupils about their needs.
Up to ten sixth formers have already been allowed to be referred to by a male name or treated as gender neutral.
Pupils aged 11 to 15 are encouraged to ‘have discussions at any time’ about the way they perceive their gender, prior to applying to the formal process ‘at the right time’.
However, the school’s charter suggests there may be occasions when parents will not be aware of their child’s request or play a full role in the application. It states they would ‘ordinarily’ be expected to know and ‘preferably’ would be ‘fully involved in such discussions’.
Last night pressure group the Campaign for Real Education warned that leaving parents out of such a process involving impressionable youngsters seemed ‘close to criminal abuse’.
Chairman Chris McGovern said: ‘What I have found is that children at that age often don’t have a problem until they are told they have a problem.
‘They are teenagers who are going through a transition and what they feel one month they may have grown out of a month later. So any question of leaving parents out of discussions is completely unacceptable.’
The league table-topping private school in West London, where fees can top £24,000 a year and whose alumni include Labour MP Harriet Harman, said it ‘takes a neutral stance, neither encouraging nor discouraging’ any decision.
High Mistress Clarissa Farr told The Sunday Times: ‘We are moving to the point where your gender is a choice.
‘I see this as a social phenomenon, especially in London, which is much talked about among school leaders.’ She added that pupils had been keen to address the matter, saying: ‘We have had an LGBT society for a long time. The school is very relaxed about sexual orientation but this is a different issue. This is about gender reassignment. That is a new thing for us.
‘We consulted the pupils to find out
‘Very relaxed about sexual orientation’
what the issues were. The main preoccupation has been to look after people who don’t want to identify as one gender or another.’
St Paul’s protocol allows children to use their new names in lessons, on sports team lists and during school trips. However, their birth name must be used when sit- ting public exams, in letters home, on school reports and on the school website.
No pupil has yet approached staff to say they are planning to go ahead with gender reassignment surgery.
If they did, it would prevent them from continuing to attend at the school, as they would become male in the eyes of the law.
Last year Brighton College scrapped distinctions between girls’ and boys’ uniforms to take into account transgender students. Headteacher Richard Cairns said the highly-regarded school was ‘reacting to a changing society’.
About 80 mixed-sex schools in the state sector have also introduced gender-neutral uniform policies, under which girls can wear trousers and boys can opt for skirts.
The Girls’ Schools Association, of which St Paul’s is a member, has also recommended using gender-neutral terms such as ‘students’ or ‘people’ to avoid offence.