They said interim guidance, introduced in 2023 to replace previous guidelines, marked a change of tone and language.
The term ‘gender distress’ is used to refer to transgender pupils, and it has a greater focus on medicalising questioning young people, with social transitioning in schools only allowed with specific medical advice. This includes name changes.
The family, who asked to remain anonymous, raised concerns about the impact the guidance was having on their nine-year-old transgender daughter, who was born male but now identifies as a girl and attends a local primary school.
The child, who we are calling Sophie, started wearing dresses at age three and their mother initially thought it was a phase.
‘We had no idea how to handle things, but wanted our child to be happy so we supported her as best we could,’ they said.
A CAMHS specialist agreed the best approach was to let the child explore their gender and wait.
‘Once we accepted Sophie as a girl and she felt supported, she became much happier and up until now has been a confident outgoing child,’ the mum said.
The school was initially supportive, with Sophie wearing a girl’s uniform, and until quite recently she was fully accepted and included at school as a girl.
But that changed ahead of a Lihou trip last year, with the headteacher saying Sophie would have to share with biological boys because of the new guidance.
‘The guidance takes even the simplest of choices away from parents and pupils, such as being able to choose a preferred name that they use at school,’ the mum said.
‘They appear to have no understanding of what it is for a child to be questioning their gender. The policy seems to be more about protecting other children from my child rather than how to support her in school.’
The mum challenged the guidance and was told by Education’s inclusion team that a risk assessment stated that the girls would be unsafe if they shared with her, as it would put them at risk of sexual abuse.
‘We were appalled by this assertion purely because Sophie is questioning her gender. She was eight years old at the time and we were beyond shocked that the Education department deems a child a risk to others purely because they are trans,’ the mum said.
But the Education Office said its guidance must consider the needs of all children.
‘A child’s welfare and safeguarding is paramount to all things, and this is therefore recognised in internal policies, guidance and practice,’ a spokesman said.
He said the gender identity guidance sets out the potential safeguarding support if children experience ‘gender distress’.
‘Education is confident this is a very robust, positive policy,’ he said.
‘It was put in place at the start of the 2023/2024 academic year, and was developed in the absence of formal national guidance from the Department for Education, England, but recognising Ofsted’s comments that schools need DfE transgender guidance urgently.’
He said the guidance was drawn up in consultation with the Islands Safeguarding Children Partnership, education professionals and Health & Social Care.
Liberate has been supporting the family. CEO Ellie Jones said her biggest fear for this young person was that she still had nine years left in the education system.
‘I worry how much of a confident, happy person will come out the other side,’ she said.
‘If children and their parents don’t have the autonomy of being able to decide what their name is, what they want to look like, or what words they feel more comfortable with to describe themselves whilst in school, then I don’t really know where that leaves us, but it feels very dictatorial for Education, Sport & Culture to decide that they know better than parents with regards to the rules of this policy.’
