A UK secondary school has come under fire from parents for sending out report cards using "gender-neutral" pronouns, effectively addressing all students as "non-binary," the Daily Mail reported on Friday.
According to the publication, the students of the Priory School in the East Sussex town of Lewes were referred to with "they/them" pronouns without consulting the "outraged" parents.
In refraining from using all gendered pronouns, the school created grammatically-incorrect sentences such as "They needs to be able to explain different religious views on life after death," which were remarks made by a religious studies teacher on the progress of a male pupil.
In another instance, a school official wrote of a student, "It would be even better if they took more care with Spelling Punctuation and Grammar."
One disgruntled father told the outlet that the change in pronouns for his teen son "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," the unnamed dad said.
Another parent, a mother who also chose to remain anonymous, 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," she added.
However, Headteacher Jon Curtis-Brignell claims the school does "not have a gender-neutral communication policy," and that the confusing report cards were the result of a software glitch.
Despite this, the school has already made headlines for other "gender-neutral" rules, including when in 2019, then-headteacher Tony Smith banned girls from wearing skirts to make the uniforms the same for both sexes, prompting protests and commentary from media personalities such as Piers Morgan, who is an alumni of Priory.
According to Cressida Murray, whose daughter was one of those students protesting against the skirt ban, said, "It doesn’t surprise me at all. The school are so wrong-headed on the gender issue. It’s ridiculous."
In a Thursday statement, Curtis-Brignell said "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."
According to the publication, the students of the Priory School in the East Sussex town of Lewes were referred to with "they/them" pronouns without consulting the "outraged" parents.
In refraining from using all gendered pronouns, the school created grammatically-incorrect sentences such as "They needs to be able to explain different religious views on life after death," which were remarks made by a religious studies teacher on the progress of a male pupil.
In another instance, a school official wrote of a student, "It would be even better if they took more care with Spelling Punctuation and Grammar."
One disgruntled father told the outlet that the change in pronouns for his teen son "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," the unnamed dad said.
Another parent, a mother who also chose to remain anonymous, 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," she added.
However, Headteacher Jon Curtis-Brignell claims the school does "not have a gender-neutral communication policy," and that the confusing report cards were the result of a software glitch.
Despite this, the school has already made headlines for other "gender-neutral" rules, including when in 2019, then-headteacher Tony Smith banned girls from wearing skirts to make the uniforms the same for both sexes, prompting protests and commentary from media personalities such as Piers Morgan, who is an alumni of Priory.
According to Cressida Murray, whose daughter was one of those students protesting against the skirt ban, said, "It doesn’t surprise me at all. The school are so wrong-headed on the gender issue. It’s ridiculous."
In a Thursday statement, Curtis-Brignell said "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."
