Teachers can refuse to use pupils' preferred pronouns under new government guidance

 (Photo: Getty/iStock)

New guidance being drawn up by the government is expected to say that single-sex schools can reject transgender pupils and teachers will not be obligated to use a pupil's preferred pronouns, The Daily Telegraph reports.

The Department for Education (DfE) has been preparing to publish new guidance on what has increasingly become a minefield for schools and teachers. 

A source from the Department for Education told The Daily Telegraph: "Single-sex schools can refuse to admit pupils of the other legal sex regardless of whether the child is questioning their gender."

The confirmation came days after the Daily Mail reported that a teacher at a girls' school had been forced to apologise after addressing the class with "good morning, girls". 

Addressing the report on Times Radio, education secretary Gillian Keegan called for a common sense approach. 

She said: "'Good morning, girls' is absolutely fine to say in a girls' school to a girls' class, and we have to be sensible and have a big dose of common sense here."

Keegan has previously said that guidance should advise schools to inform parents if their child wishes to use different pronouns. 

A recent report by the Policy Exchange think tank found that seven in 10 schools are failing to inform parents of their child's desire to change gender.

Last year, the Department for Education (DfE) awarded Christian parents Nigel and Sally Rowe £22,000 in costs and promised to reform official guidance for schools on transgender issues after the couple successfully challenged its trans-affirming policies.

The settlement was reached after the couple won permission at the High Court for a judicial review into the government's transgender educational policies.

In another case, Christian maths teacher Joshua Sutcliffe was dismissed in 2017 after allegedly 'misgendering' a pupil at his school. He is currently challenging his removal from the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA).

Bernard Randall lost his job as a chaplain at a Church of England school after telling pupils in a sermon that they did not need to agree with LGBT ideology. 

All three cases have been assisted by the Christian Legal Centre (CLC). The organisation's CEO Andrea Williams recently called transgender ideology in schools "the mother of all safeguarding failures". 

"Somehow 'transgender ideology' has come to trump safeguarding in schools. This is a serious moral failure and harmful for our children," she said.

News
The story of the pope known as the Apostle to the English
The story of the pope known as the Apostle to the English

Pope Gregory I, known as Gregory the Great, was one of the most important popes, and his positive legacy is still felt today - not least in Britain. This is the story … 

Christians redouble efforts to stop assisted suicide
Christians redouble efforts to stop assisted suicide

Christians are doubling down on efforts to stop assisted suicide becoming legal in England and Wales after Kim Leadbeater's bill was debated in Westminster on Friday. 

Christian leaders unite in Westminster to kick off 2025 ‘Shine Your Light’ evangelism campaign
Christian leaders unite in Westminster to kick off 2025 ‘Shine Your Light’ evangelism campaign

More than 100 Christian leaders recently came together at a parliamentary reception in London for the launch of Shine Your Light 2025 — a bold evangelistic initiative aiming to bring the message of Christ to streets, neighbourhoods, and marketplaces across the UK.

Darlington nurses still waiting for single-sex changing space despite Supreme Court ruling
Darlington nurses still waiting for single-sex changing space despite Supreme Court ruling

An NHS trust has been accused of continually flouting the law around women’s rights by requiring female nurses to get changed in front of a biologically male nurse who goes by the name of “Rose”.