One day, Clare Page’s 15 year-old daughter returned home from school reporting that a recent sex education lesson – which was supposed to be about consent – had taught that ‘heteronormativity’ is harmful and ‘sex positivity’ is a good thing.
Clare was understandably alarmed. The Education Act 1996 imposes a duty on schools “to prevent political indoctrination and secure the balanced treatment of political issues”, and this was a clear example of a contested – and indeed harmful – ideology being presented to her daughter as fact.
The lesson was provided by a charity called School of Sexuality Education (SoSE), which at the time had what Clare describes as “inappropriately explicit lesson plans” on its website, including links to a private company “which advertises sex toys, pornography and anal masturbation techniques to young people”.
Wanting to know more about what her daughter was being taught and the details of any link to websites promoting such things, Clare made a Freedom of Information request to the school. She was shocked when it was declined on grounds of commercial secrecy for the charity and privacy for the teacher.
Clare then referred the case to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and in a landmark decision that made national headlines, the ICO backed the school’s choice to keep the lesson details secret from parents, effectively prioritising the commercial interest of an education charity over parents’ right to know what their children are being taught.
Clare believes the ICO made an unlawful decision that fails in respect of the school’s public service duties, compromises safeguarding and undermines the trust that is essential to education.
She is now planning to appeal the decision at a tribunal, with the aim of overturning the ICO’s decision and establishing a ruling that the lesson resources used by schools should be fully accessible to parents, and that commercial interests should not override the rights of parents.
You can donate to Clare Page’s legal crowdfunder here.
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I’m surprised it was so little. Were the flags and whatnot hung up and taken down by volunteers free of charge? Was there no formal risk management effort expended? There may not be a line item for it but I’ll bet the lost opportunity costs were far higher than half a million quid.
100%. I would bet it was several orders of magnitude greater than £500k across the entire public sector.
And added to the ‘P’ tax payer bill is all the money spent in schools ( mine included) on numerous flags small and impressive huge hanging ones! Party food teachers time, wigs hats and so on. The flags remained hanging like the third reich headquarters outside until the last day of term, July!!!! Not just June, Why we know! We all staff and students and visitors had to walk past them to enter or leave the building as the colours caught our every gaze, setting the scene for educational setting!!
As students left on their last day at school EVER they were clapped as they paraded past these flags and proud parents took videos and photos, just to add to the visual brainwashing as these pics will adorn family albums with cult rainbows in the background of smiling young faces as they leave their school, to brainwash the next family generations into the ‘new world not for old souls’ that now presides.
When Labour get in their ideologue canvass has been helpfully primed by the cowardly government so if you don’t wear the flag by then you will be marked out? Cancel gulags for me then.
I think the taxpayer should not be funding anything that is not core to a specific public service .
The list includes brainwashing events like this, BLM,Climate Alarmists , all charities that get any cash from any public organisation .
Also the whole Arts and Culture bandwagon .I really do not think we should be funding experimental , Lesbian Art Exhibitions from Upper Volta or similar .
Lets not forget overseas aid while we are at it beyond short term disaster relief.
Just off to complete my application for support for a 2month Christian, St George and the Hetrosexual Festival .I am sure old Khan has a pot of money put aside for such causes.
I will not be holding my breathe though ..
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Sadiq Khan you are a clown, use the funding to but some Ronald McDonald big red boots so we can hear you flop around London, I really find it amazing,. that anyone could’ve been a bigger clown than Boris, but you are winning that crown by a mile,.resign now please, so we don’t have to listen to any more of your stupidity!!