Schools in Brighton & Hove in the south of England are being advised to teach children that it is not only girls and women who have periods.

The advice was approved by the council at a meeting earlier this month and recommends that classes about menstruation be 'inclusive of all genders'. 

It gives the example of speaking about 'girls and women and others who have periods', as it adds that 'trans boys and men and non-binary people may have periods.'

'Pupils with very early onset puberty and trans pupils and students are provided with additional support perhaps from a school nurse, if needed,' it states.

The report also says that bins for disposable menstrual products are provided 'in all toilets' in schools across the city from Key Stage 2.

The recommendations were agreed as part of the city council's drive to reduce 'period poverty' in schools while raising awareness of the experience of monthly menstruation for millions of school children.

The council denied that the report claimes boys will have periods after it received criticism in the media.  It criticised the media coverage, saying its work around periods in schools had been 'misrepresented'. 

Last month, the Scottish government was strongly criticised by SNP members who fear that 'transgender ideology' is sweeping across the country's schools. 

The criticism followed the release of new guidance for Scottish schools in which teachers were told not to inform parents about a child's desire to change gender unless the child had given their consent.  The guidance also said transgender children should be allowed to compete in sports as the gender they identify with. 

The former moderator of the Free Church of Scotland, the Rev David Robertson, was also critical of the document, calling it 'harmful and totalitarian'.