75% of teachers have trans pupils, but still no official guidance

THREE quarters of secondary school teachers teach trans or non-binary pupils, according to a survey – yet staff still do not have Government guidance.

It is feared that teachers are being left to cope on their own with the growing number of children who say their gender differs from their biological sex.

Of the almost 7,000 teachers polled by the app Teacher Tapp, around 75 per cent said their school would support a child who wished to ‘socially transition’ – which means taking actions such as using different pronouns or changing their appearance. And 39 per cent of the secondary teachers said they would support a transition regardless of parental consent.

It comes after the PM pledged to publish guidance on trans issues by the summer term amid fears that parents are being kept in the dark when their children say they want to change gender. The advice was first promised five years ago.

Tanya Carter, spokesman for Safe Schools Alliance UK, a campaign group of parents and teachers, said: ‘The Department for Education should have published guidance taking a safeguarding-first approach at least five years ago.

‘Rishi Sunak now needs to ensure that this is done immediately and that those who have prevented this are held to account.

‘This neglect of highly vulnerable children looks like nothing short of cowardice.’

The survey, conducted for BBC News, found just 9 per cent of teachers think there are adequate support services to which they can refer children experiencing gender unease. Just 7 per cent said they would be confident in taking the next steps to help a child socially transition, with the consent of their parents.

Penni Allen, director of wellbeing and transition at Liverpool’s Chesterfield High School, said schools will ‘continue supporting the child’ regardless of their parent’s views. She told BBC News: ‘Some children will come and say they’re just exploring. Others will say they’ve been feeling this way for quite some time. They might just be at the start of a journey that never goes anywhere.

‘It’s not about putting them on a pathway. We don’t put your child in a box and put a label on it that says, “Your child is now trans”.

‘We like to think we’ve got a good relationship with parents here… and hopefully, we get it right.’ The survey results come days after a report by think- tank Civitas revealed a third of schoolchildren are being taught that a ‘woman can have a penis’.

The Department for Education is undertaking an urgent review of the sex education curriculum amid fears youngsters are being exposed to ‘inappropriate’ and graphic material.

It was contacted for comment.