Rye College, a state secondary school in East Sussex, will not undergo an urgent re-inspection by Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) because it effectively dealt with the “cat gender” controversy that arose at the school. The incident involved a recording of a teacher telling a pupil who refused to accept her classmate’s self-identification as a cat that she was “despicable.” The pupils were in a relationships, sex, and health education (RSHE) lesson, and the teacher threatened to report those who didn’t affirm their classmate’s preferred feline identity to a senior school leader, claiming they had “really upset” the “cat” by referring to them as a girl.
Following the emergence of the recording, Kemi Badenoch, the equalities minister, called for an immediate inspection of the school by Ofsted, expressing concern about how the teacher’s behavior raised issues about safeguarding at the school.
After conducting the inspection, Ofsted concluded that Rye College had responded promptly and effectively to the scandal. They found that the reported concerns about RSHE teaching, in light of the recording, did not reflect the typical experiences of pupils at the school. The inspector emphasized that discrimination of any kind is not tolerated at the school, and any issues are dealt with robustly by both school leaders and students.
As a result of the inspection, Ofsted did not find evidence of declining overall standards at the school. Hence, they have suggested that there is no need for an urgent re-inspection, and the school’s next inspection will proceed as scheduled.