Ofsted chief warning over explicit sex lessons
Alarm at current guidance which places ‘no limits’ on what can be taught to children
CHILDREN are being given sex education lessons that have “no basis in any reputable scientific biological explanation”, the head of Ofsted has warned.
Pupils in some secondary schools have been told there are 100 genders, and in major academy trusts and independent schools children are taught gender fluidity as fact, an investigation by The Daily Telegraph has found.
Amanda Spielman, chief inspector of Ofsted, told this newspaper she has warned the Government that the relationships and sex education (RSE) guidance places no limit on what can be taught. She claimed that Ofsted is powerless to sanction schools teaching inappropriate material.
She made the intervention after The Telegraph revealed widespread evidence of “age-inappropriate” sex education materials in schools.
A dossier gathered by Miriam Cates, the Conservative MP, was presented to Rishi Sunak last week, which led to the Prime Minister ordering a review of the Department of Education’s RSE guidance on Wednesday.
Pupils in Years 7 and 8 at schools overseen by the Kemnal Academies Trust, one of the largest in the South and East of England, have been taught using a diagram of a “gender unicorn”, showing sliding scales of male, female and other identities, alongside spectrums of gender expression and sex assigned at birth.
Ms Spielman said: “[There] are materials being used which have no basis in any reputable scientific, biological explanation or any properly grounded understanding of human relationships.”
Controversial teaching resources also include children as young as 12 being asked how they “feel” about oral and anal sex, and primary school teaching resources on masturbation.
The Government’s RSE guidance, drawn up in 2019 in consultation with the LGBT+ charity Stonewall, specified that “gender identity” should be taught in schools.
Ms Spielman said: “The way the Department for Education guidance is drafted sets clear minimum expectations but no maximum.”
This means that Ofsted has “no reference point” to say that a school is “doing too much”, she said.
Asked whether under the existing RSE guidance, Ofsted would downgrade a primary school for teaching pupils about masturbation, Ms Spielman said: “It is very hard for us to say that too much is being done.”
She said that she has “expressed concerns” to the Department for Education (DFE) about its guidance, which is due to be reviewed. Any new advice should have “a much greater definition about what is properly taught and at which age”, she added.
Last month, the Isle of Man Government suspended all sex education lessons on the island and launched an independent inquiry after parents reported that a drag queen had told 11-year-olds there are 73 genders, while others in the same year group were taught about oral and anal sex, and sexchange operations.
Almost 50 Conservative MPS, including Priti Patel, the former home secretary, and Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary, have called on Mr Sunak to “act with similar urgency and decisiveness” to the Isle of Man Government “to protect children and childhood across the UK”.
Ms Spielman said that parents “must be able to see materials” taught in RSE lessons. Schools have blocked parents from seeing resources because of threats of copyright breaches from third-party resource providers.
Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, said on Wednesday that schools “should ensure they’re making content
available to parents if requested”. However, campaign groups and MPS say the onus should be on schools to make materials publicly available to parents.
Ms Spielman echoed concerns of Mrs Cates that some sex education materials “could fall foul” of schools’ legal duty to maintain political impartiality. She also said that sex education has become “so complicated and so contested” that teachers need “absolute clarity on what schools can do and when”.
A spokesman for the Kemnal Academies Trust (TKAT) said: “In September 2021, the Department of Education published guidance on Relationships and Sex and Health Education.
“In light of this, TKAT revised its policy. Since this point, there has been no further guidance from the DFE although we note this is expected this year. Once this guidance is published, we will amend our policies accordingly. As an evolving and sensitive subject matter, we will continue to review and refine our guidance to all our schools.”
Mr Sunak told the Commons on Wednesday that he has asked the DFE to “ensure that schools are not teaching inappropriate or contested content in RSHE”. Mrs Cates has warned that the teaching of radical gender ideology in schools could be contributing to a rise in the number of children seeking medical intervention, including puberty blockers and hormone treatment.
Ms Spielman, who is to speak at the annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders today, also addressed school strikes.
She said that she is “very disappointed about children losing any more school and [hoped] that disputes can be resolved as quickly as possible”.
She also warned of “a wave of social contagion” in schools as a Tiktok trend causes protests over gates on lavatories in class times and school uniform policies. She said head teachers “need to keep the clarity of what they’re doing”, and that “they teach and manage behaviour effectively in their schools”.