You may have seen reports in the media about our pupil registration form, which we have sent out this week to parents who have applied for school places.
This asks for a range of information from parents and carers for children and young people of all ages who are entering a new school community.
We would like to make it clear that parents and carers are not being asked to speak with their child about their gender or gender identity.
We will be reviewing the wording of our form to see whether we can in future make this clearer.
For the vast majority of families stating their child’s gender as male or female is very straightforward.
We have put some additional text in the form this year that we hoped would help the small number of families who will struggle to respond to the question about gender and encouraging these families to speak with their child’s school.
This was in response to calls from families, young people and schools to show an inclusive approach to gender.
There are increasing numbers of children and young people nationally identifying as Trans. Many Trans people nationally report having been bullied when they were at school.
By acknowledging the range of gender identities in our school communities we are helping ensure schools are safe spaces for everyone.