Ian Wellby, the Island-based Conservative campaigner and an expected candidate to become MP for East Wight, has called on the Isle of Wight Council to investigate the transgender and safeguarding policies of Island Schools.
His call comes after a national report by Policy Exchange revealed that schools are failing to routinely inform parents when a child discloses gender distress, compromising single-sex spaces, and many are teaching contested gender identity beliefs as if they are facts.
Ian has written to all Island maintained schools to ascertain their specific policies regarding safeguarding. He found that a number of Island Schools do not necessarily inform parents if their child
is expressing a desire to change gender, in particular highlighting Cowes Enterprise College’s statement on their own website that a child expressing a wish to transition gender would not ‘warrant’ parental notification.
He has also asked about the teaching of disputed gender ideologies. He found many Island Secondary schools are employing external agencies who are promoting and presenting radical and
unscientific beliefs as fact, including the highly controversial Mermaids charity (currently under investigation by the Charity Commission) which has been widely criticised for its stance on puberty
blockers which runs counter to NHS advice, according to Safe Schools Alliance UK.
Commenting on his letter to Councillor Debbie Andre, Ian said:
“I was alarmed to read the Policy Exchange report which highlighted how children are being put at risk by the teaching of contested gender ideology in schools. This is an issue which affects us here on the Island. Many Island schools are employing highly controversial external agencies to deliver lessons on disputed gender ideology as fact.”
“Most shockingly, it is the policy of many Island schools to not necessarily immediately inform parents if a child has expressed a wish to, or has begun, transitioning their gender. As a father of two young children, I passionately believe parents have a right to know about the materials being used to teach their children and to have the primary say in decisions being taken about their welfare. Having attended Island state schools myself, I know first-hand how the majority of Island teachers work tirelessly in the interests of pupils, but are let down by poor guidance and undue influence of overtly political external agencies promoting contested beliefs as facts.”
“I am pleased that both the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition have expressed concerns about what is going on in schools, and have called for parents to be informed, but it is for the Council here on the Island to investigate these matters in the first instance”
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what a load of old cobblers. In my day you went to school to learn, if begrudgingly . the things that young people are brainwashed with. The minority think its cool. Surely there more important things to consider.
I know, the schools teach kids the Earth isn’t flat and that vaccines work. This woke world has gone too far! Change the syllabus to how god intended.
It is very concerning that the council would disclose to parents if a child did not wish them to know , a child over ,13yrs has a right to privacy, even seeing a GP is confidential, obtaining contraception etc if child does not wish parents to know. Disclosing to parents could put child at risk of harm and rejection if against parents belief , most children as they get older know when it’s right time to tell parents not school or any outsider.
How simple life once was without everyone shouting their mental and physical oddities to the world to justify their differences. They ‘know’ and we don’t care.
Life was better when we prayed the gay away. Look at the world now.
Transgender issues are relevant to a tiny percentage of the population. What is more relevant is the state of our school buildings, inflation, the NHS, energy bills, sewage in our rivers and seas, government corruption etc. But Conservative Party HQ have told local Tory activists to distract people as much as they can by talking about something else.
And this guy? He’s doing that and promoting himself. He’s not even interested in the issue he’s raised. He just doesn’t want you talking about the other stuff.
So another candidate who will seek to be a Tory MP who avoids the big issues by playing the culture war game. Transgender issues, however, important, affect a very small minority. The Island is dependent on tourism income and people are far more concerned about the cost of living, whether people will be able to afford to visit the Island on holiday, how polluted the sea and watercourses are – thre are a miriad of concerns but they are all ignored while Mr Wellby concentrates all his attention on transgender issues.
To be fair to Mr Wellby I think he’s been campaigning on Island housing / planning for years and recently did a big (and pretty sensible) piece on the ferries?
Don’t worry. He knows the handshake. We can work on this together.
since when did it become “ok” for teachers to tell children that they can go to a hospital, allow theirselves to be mutilated by surgeons and given drugs to alter their appearance as a solution to their situation, rather than teaching them to learn to love theirselves as they are and with the body that they have in its current form.
even teachers know that growing up, you experience the full range of emotions and perceptions that life has to offer and as you move towards adulthood, you “find” the feeling of existence that suits you the best.
parents should remove children from school if the teachers deviate from teaching academic subjects and move into encouraging decisions that can destroy a childs future, if it is wrong.
There ain’t enough schools to do that , teachers may not want to teach this stuff, but probably part of Conservative curriculum and Ofsted inspection to force this.
Have you spoken to gender-questioning or transgender teenagers about this, Mr Wellby?
Why this is allowed is beyond me, schools over riding the decision of the parent’s on this matter is disgraceful, rules, law are a joke when it comes to a child’s mind.. ‘I’m a boy trapped inside a girls body’…. Just be who you are,a feminine boy that like girly things, a girl being a tomboy that likes climbing trees..
“the teaching of contested gender ideology in schools”
Get a grip. Teach them something useful because educational standards are so low on the island. Worst performing schools in the whole of the UK. I know most of these kids aren’t up to much but don’t teach them this drivel. Some of them can barely do basic maths or write a coherent sentence. They will definitely get the wrong end of the stick if you try to teach them about contested gender ideology. Get back to basics. A lot of them could do with a few laps of the playing field too.
Surely the key point in all this is that we’re talking about CHILDREN?
And yes, from personal experience, Primary schools on the Island are letting activists from the likes of Mermaids and other similar groups into the classrooms to put their views on sexual orientation and gender across to the children. If you’re happy with this then fair enough, but I’m pretty sure many parents of 4-11 year olds don’t even know this is happening.
How about the straight people who are getting fed up with all this gay nonsense being rubbed in our faces seriously these youngsters need to get real!! Show them videos of the young MEN and WOMEN that fort in the war and behaved properly. It’s Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve