A SCHOOL at the centre of a right-wing moral panic has said none of its pupils “identify as a cat or any other animal”.
A teacher at Rye College was reportedly recorded telling a pupil her opinions were “despicable” for refusing to accept there are more than two genders.
It sparked debate online forcing Tory Education Secretary Gillian Keegan to step in and launch an investigation into the alleged incident earlier this week, followed by women and equalities minister Kemi Badenoch writing to the schools watchdog Ofsted to request that it carry out a snap inspection of Rye College in East Sussex.
It comes months after an Aberdeenshire school was hit with similar unevidenced claims.
Rumours of a cat-identifying pupil at Banff Academy spread on the Banff and Macduff Community Group Facebook page, with many chiming in to condemn the school and allege that their children had confirmed the event occurred.
A spokesperson for Aberdeenshire Council told The National: “There are no cats and no pupils identifying as cats at Banff Academy.”
The rumour - which pops up in the media every now and then - appears to come from America in a mimicry of the USA’s culture war surrounding LGBT+ education in schools.
After meetings between the Department for Education and Rye College this week, the latest school at the centre of cat claims hit back.
“We have now met with the Department for Education to share a comprehensive update on the events which took place before, during and after the recording,” said a spokesman for the Rye College.
“This meeting was a positive step and we will continue working closely with them to ensure any appropriate action is taken.
“We can confirm, no children at Rye College identify as a cat or any other animal.
“More widely, we understand that draft guidance on gender identity in schools is expected to be issued by the Government soon and we would of course welcome what we hope will be clear and helpful guidance to support all teachers and schools in addressing gender identity going forward.
“This will be particularly useful in developing future training to ensure staff feel confident, well-equipped and well-prepared to address these issues.”
In a letter to Ofsted, Badenoch said that the “widely circulated recording of a teacher acting inappropriately regarding her pupils’ beliefs about sex, gender and a fellow pupil who claimed to identify as a cat” in the minister’s view “raises issues about safeguarding at the school” and expected Ofsted to “carefully consider” the snap inspection request.
Badenoch said she believes the teacher in question “was not acting in a way consistent with the Equality Act’s requirements upon schools, nor in accordance with Ofsted’s Education Inspection Framework’s requirements to promote respect for the different protected characteristics as defined in law”.
The minister added that “by apparently teaching contested political beliefs as fact – including that there are ‘lots of genders’ or that ‘gender is not linked to the parts that you were born with’ – beliefs which are both politically controversial and have no scientific basis – it appears to me that the teacher was in breach of the political impartiality requirements set out in Articles 406 and 407 of the Education Act 1996”.
Ofsted confirmed it is considering the letter but had no further comment when approached on Friday.
