- The Welsh government has announced that it will publish national guidance for schools in Wales to support transgender pupils. This move comes as teachers are becoming increasingly aware of issues relating to gender identity, but often lack the confidence to address them in the classroom. The guidance is part of the Welsh government’s LGBTQ+ Action Plan and is expected to be released during the next academic year.
According to a charity called School of Hard Knocks, which uses sports to help at-risk children re-engage with school and avoid exclusion, there is an appetite from teachers for help in how to support transgender, non-binary, and gender-exploring young people. The charity has run focus groups to identify the key issues faced by teachers and pupils. “More and more students are exploring their gender and being open with how they identify and using pronouns that differ to the ones they were given at birth,” said Sian Edwards of School of Hard Knocks. “That’s something teachers are seeing more and more and it’s not something that they’re necessarily familiar with or comfortable with.”
The charity’s Inc Project now offers training to schools and other organizations to improve the experience for transgender, non-binary, and gender-exploring young people. Alison Carney, a consultant who helps deliver the training, acknowledged that teachers often fear getting it wrong in this sensitive area. The training, however, focuses on the day-to-day experience of pupils and teachers, not on policy.
The Welsh government has committed to issuing guidance in summer 2023, but it has been delayed to ensure a full consultation that includes experts, practitioners, the public, and children and young people themselves. The guidance is needed to help teachers ensure that transgender children and young people “feel safe and adequately supported in education.” Dan Hayes, a transgender man, believes that the guidance could have helped him when he was at school. “I think it’s important for trans kids to know there are people like them out there,” he said.
While the Welsh Conservatives said that the guidance is a “delicate subject” and that it is “vital” to get it right, they also said that it should not come at the expense of women and girls’ rights. The Children’s Commissioner for Wales, Rocio Cifuentes, believes that the guidance will act as a comprehensive and practical tool to help schools respond to pupils’ needs with confidence. The UK government has also promised guidance for schools in England during the summer term after an education union said that members were having to navigate “a minefield.”
