Parents’ fury over gender-neutral school reports: Teachers at East Sussex co-educational accused of ‘wokery’ and ‘virtue signalling’ after dropping ‘he’ and ‘she’ from student feedback forms and referring to 11 to 16 year olds as ‘they’
- Priory School in Lewes, East Sussex, caused outrage with gender-neutral reports
- One sentence read: ‘They needs to be able to explain different religious views’
Parents are outraged after a leading secondary school sent out gender-neutral school reports for all children without consultation.
Mothers and fathers were baffled when their children’s grades arrived from co-educational school Priory School with all personal pronouns changed.
The reports on the 11- to 16-year-olds also contained grammatical howlers while any mention of ‘he’ or ‘she’ was dropped.
Shocking sentences included a religious studies class report where a boy’s parents were told of their son: ‘They needs to be able to explain different religious views on life after death.’
In another line, a pupil was told: ‘It would be even better if they took more care with Spelling Punctuation and Grammar.’
Jon Curtis-Brignell headteacher of the school in Lewes, East Sussex, has insisted staff ‘do not have a gender-neutral communication policy’
One Year 9 boy’s father, who did not wish to be named, told the Mail: ‘This was totally unheralded as far as we can see.
‘There’s been no announcements, and suddenly they have adopted this policy, which presumably they were going to use in all of their communications.’
But Jon Curtis-Brignell headteacher of the school in Lewes, East Sussex, has insisted staff ‘do not have a gender-neutral communication policy’.
He claimed the poorly written reports were down to a computer glitch from software that automates parts of the reports.
But it is not the first time apparent wokery has upset pupils and parents at the school, which boasts high-profile alumni including broadcaster Piers Morgan.
There were protests at the gates in 2019 when then headteacher Tony Smith banned girls from wearing skirts as part of a gender-neutral uniform rule.
Both male and female pupils wore skirts to ridicule the move, with Morgan even threatening to wear a blouse and join them. Meanwhile, the latest move has left parents venting their frustration in parent WhatsApp groups. One mother with a 13-year-old son at the school believes Mr Curtis-Brignell still has a woke agenda despite his denials.
The Priory School in Lewes has caused indignation to parents with its ‘gender neutral’ reports
The woman, who did not want to be named, said: ‘Bringing in a blanket policy as a knee-jerk reaction to the gender issue is to completely miss the point.
‘Personal pronouns are a matter of choice for every individual and assigning the “they” pronoun to every pupil takes away their choice. The policy has been brought in to virtue signal the school’s pro-trans position but it actually disenfranchises all the pupils.’
Another mother with a 14-year-old daughter at the school insisted that she had received further correspondence with gender-neutral language, adding: ‘They should concentrate on educating our children properly and not get mixed up in gender politics.’
Mr Curtis-Brignell said last night: ‘We have now completed an evaluation of our written reports, including the use of generic personal pronouns, and changes will be implemented when the next reports are issued later in the year.
‘Any concerns raised with the school by parents and carers will always be responded to with openness, transparency, and honesty.’
Cressida Murray, whose daughter Libby protested against the introduction of the gender-neutral school uniform, said: ‘It doesn’t surprise me at all. The school are so wrong-headed on the gender issue. It’s ridiculous.’
Her daughter left last year but she said the school needed to take stock of its position and leave pronouns to the personal choice of each individual pupil.
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