Displaying items by tag: department for education

Over eighty complaints of assaults, neglect, and sexual abuse have been made about after-school clubs in the past five years. In one incident, an eight-year-old boy had to clean his younger sister who had special educational needs, after she soiled herself: see The Department for Education says every child should feel safe in such clubs. Parents rely on them, and breakfast clubs, to provide childcare outside school hours. Many are not regulated, as providers do not need to register with Ofsted unless they offer childcare for more than two hours. They can register voluntarily with Ofsted in England, but only 10% are inspected a year, meaning they might not be inspected for nearly a decade. The mother of the two siblings said it was difficult for parents to know about the quality of safeguarding, saying, ‘After-school clubs are blind spots that need to be addressed.’

Parents Sally and Nigel Rowe were warned that if their six-year-old child expressed confusion about another pupil wearing a dress and used incorrect pronouns it would be unacceptable behaviour. A letter from the headteacher and governors said that pupils risked being viewed as transphobic if they showed an inability to believe a transgender person is actually a ‘real’ female or male. The parents have withdrawn both their sons from the school and been granted permission for a judicial challenge to the Department for Education’s (DfE) decision to provide the guidelines to state schools. A hearing is expected within six months, and the DfE is defending the claim. The parents withdrew their eldest son in 2015 after he became confused about another boy wearing girl's clothes. Two years later, they are raising the issue again after their second son was confused about another pupil who identified as ‘gender fluid’, alternating their appearance on various days of the week.