Parents should be consulted when children question gender identity, schools told

Parents should be involved in the “vast majority” of cases where a child questions their gender, new government guidance for teachers says.

Schools should seek parents’ views unless there is any reason not to, as well as always considering any clinical advice families have received, it also states.

The Department for Education has set out proposals in legally binding guidelines on how schools should support any children questioning their gender.

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Schools must maintain single-sex spaces, the draft document says, and there should be no sharing of toilets for children over eight or mixed-sex sleeping arrangements on trips.

The guidance also warns there are no exceptions to single-sex facilities at schools and colleges, including toilets and changing rooms. Single-sex sports must also be protected.

But schools have been given some flexibility over how they deal with issues such as children’s names and uniforms.

Teachers should not initiate steps towards social transitioning – when pupils change their name, pronoun or clothes to reflect their gender identity – but should instead consider carefully what other support a child might need.

A child's birth sex must be recorded in school and college records, the guidance says.

The new guidance has been influenced by the recommendations of Dr Hilary Cass, who carried out a review of gender services for young people, and who backed the new advice.

A consultation on the updates to the safeguarding guidance will be held for 10 weeks.

Headteachers’ unions welcomed publication of the guidance.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said other proposed changes will include advice on mobile phone use, child sexual abuse, misogyny, grooming gangs and serious violence.

Ms Phillipson said: “Parents send their children to school and college trusting that they'll be protected. Teachers work tirelessly to keep them safe. That's not negotiable, and it's not a political football.”

A spokesperson for the NSPCC said: “Children must be at the heart of these discussions and ultimately, the final guidance. At Childline, we hear from young people questioning their gender identity who are scared and confused and who don't know who they can turn to.

“The government needs to hear from these children in particular, to ensure their experiences are reflected in the guidance, so that all children can feel safe and benefit from an inclusive education.”