Rhondda Cynon Taf council reviews trans guidance after row over pupil

The school was following Rhondda Cynon Taf council's transgender guidance for secondary schools

A council is reviewing transgender guidance for schools after teachers began calling a pupil by a girl's name days after they came out as trans and without speaking to the parents.

The parents' lawyer Paul Conrathe said they told the school in Rhondda Cynon Taf their child needed therapy first.

The guidance says schools can empower trans pupils by letting their appearance match their gender identity.

The council said it was considering how it might be improved.

"They [the school] said the child is within their rights to do this," the pupil's father told the Sunday Times.

"We were like: 'No, wait, don't put him on a path we are really frightened of, we do not know where this path leads'

Mr Conrathe said within a week of the pupil coming out the parents were contacted by the school to say their child had asked for a name change on the register and to attend the girls' PE classes.

He said the parents went to a meeting at the school where they expressed their belief their child should be allowed to have therapy before radical changes were made.

'Would not listen'

Psychotherapist Stella O'Malley said she was asked by the family to attend the meeting earlier this year.

"They asked me to liaise with the school because the school would not listen to them when they said they were going through a thing with the child.

"Changing names and pronouns is called social transition and this is a very powerful intervention.

"It solidifies the transgender identification and we believe it leads to medical transition," she said.

The council's guidance for secondary schools, called a tool kit, says: "Remember that a pupil who identifies as a trans girl but was born biologically male is not a 'boy dressed as a girl' but is a girl who outwardly at this point resembles a 'boy'.

"By allowing a trans child or young person to dress in clothes with which they feel comfortable, schools empower them to express themselves by bringing their outward appearance in line with that of their internal gender identity at that point in time."

'Guidance'

A Rhondda Cynon Taf council spokesman said: "Given that over two years have passed since the toolkit was introduced, the school summer holiday has provided us with an opportune time to consider how the toolkit might be improved to better support schools and their pupils.

"We will look to reinstate the toolkit as soon as possible, once our review is complete.

"The information in the toolkit is guidance, and as such, schools are not required to use the toolkit should they not wish to."

He said the council was "committed to establishing arrangements that can assist in providing support to transgender and gender-questioning pupils".

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