Trans children should be called ‘zie’, schools told

BOARDING school teachers should describe transgender pupils as “zie” to avoid offence, according to official guidance aimed at “queering the education system”.

Staff have been told they need to learn a “new language” for growing numbers of pupils demanding not to be called “he” or “she”.

The guidelines, issued by the Boarding Schools’ Association, are designed to help teachers navigate a “minefield”, its authors say.

Leading schools, including Eton, Westminster and High Wycombe, are also being told they should display an “equality pledge” for all visitors to read and sign.

Teachers are also being taught vocabulary for new gender identities, including “genderqueer”, used by people who identify as neither male nor entirely female; and “pansexual”, which is someone attracted to men, women and transsexuals.

“Zie” is thought to derive from “sie”, which used to be popular in the gay and transgender community, but has been rejected by some because of confusion with “sie”, the German for “she”.

Both state and private schools are dealing with rising numbers of pupils who reject “the binary system of gender” and whose sexual orientation is fluid.

Some schools have introduced gender-neutral uniforms, including Brighton College in the private sector, and about 80 state schools.

Single-sex private schools have also been told to replace the terms “girls” and “young women” with “pupils” or “students”.

Elly Barnes, author of the new guidelines, said that as more trans pupils “come out”, it becomes imperative to “break the binary”.

“Schools need to make sure that all students are treated equally and fairly according to the Equality Act,” she said. “We need to educate adults to speak a common language because we grew up in a generation with no prior experience about the [lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans communities].

Alex Thompson, of the Boarding Schools’ Association, said: “Teachers, heads and deputy heads were asking questions about these issues, and they felt they were in the dark on what was politically correct and had fears of causing offence as young people were questioning their gender identity.”