Schools to be rated on how transgender aware they are

THE Good Schools Guide is to examine how‘ transgender friendly’ schools are for the first time, it was revealed yesterday.

Rising numbers of families are said to be asking for advice on which schools cater best for the needs of transgender children.

At least 150 schools across the country have already adopted gender neutral uniform policies, but some are reluctant to accommodate youngsters.

They are refusing to allow pupils to use the name they prefer, wear the uniform and use toilet facilities for the gender they identify with and effectively tackle bullying.

In some cases, parents are withdrawing their children and moving them to schools where staff are more supportive.

The issue has been ‘building up’ over the last 18 months, with the guide’s consultancy arm assisting families in finding new schools.

Bernadette John, director of the Good School Guide’s education consulting service, said: ‘Families are coming to us when they feel they are left with no option but to pull their transgender child out of a school. Sometimes the child is being bullied and the school is not dealing with it appropriately.

‘We also hear that schools are causing transgender children undue stress and anxiety by refusing to allow them to use the name or pronoun they prefer, or to wear the uniform and use facilities for the gender they identify with.’

In future, guide inspectors will quiz headteachers about how they cater for transgender students in a bid to give families more information. Mrs John told The Daily Telegraph: ‘We had an editorial conversation about this a few days ago. It will be something that we ask in the round of questions about pastoral issues.

‘We would certainly be ask- ing headmasters about this.’ The guide is compiling a list of schools that have a good track record for dealing with transgender issues, according to Mrs John.

She added: ‘If a school is utterly outstanding, we might make a point of mentioning it in the review. Some schools are making fabulous efforts.

But we are still seeing issues where schools are effectively asking children to leave by saying we have no policies on toilets or uniforms, we cannot cater for you.’

Under the 2010 Equality Act, any child identifying as transgender should have the right to wear the uniform and use gender-specific facilities such as toilets or changing rooms intended for the gender they identify as. Mrs John added: ‘There are schools out there which rightly feel it matters a great deal if a child is uncomfortable in his or her skin, and respond compassionately.’

It emerged last week that a Christian family is preparing to sue their sons’ Church of England school in the Isle of Wight after boys were allowed to wear dresses in class.

Nigel Rowe, 44, and his wife, Sally, 42, removed their sixyear-old son from the unnamed school and intend to educate him at home.

They had already removed his eight-year-old brother saying there is a ‘political agenda driving the issue’ in schools.