- Roy Huggins faced potential teaching ban following complaints by Year 7 pupils with gender dysphoria about his discussion of puberty.
- Huggins says he was treated like a paedophile.
Roy Huggins, an experienced history teacher was asked to cover a Year 7 Science class, where the scheduled topic happened to be ‘puberty.’
Engaging with the national curriculum textbook, he imparted knowledge about the physical transformations experienced by both boys and girls during puberty, supplementing it with further explanations to facilitate the students’ comprehension. He was confident that the lesson was successful.
Unbeknownst to Mr. Huggins, within the Year 7 class (consisting of 11-12-year-olds) at Retford Oaks Academy, there were at least two students who had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Subsequently, a number of students filed complaints regarding remarks made during the lesson, deeming them ‘inappropriate’ and causing offense.
As opposed to having a direct discussion with Mr. Huggins to prevent a recurrence, the school opted to report the matter to the local authority safeguarding body, responsible for addressing allegations involving adults working with children.
Much to Mr Huggins’ relief, he was promptly exonerated of any wrongdoing, and he further noted that the authority went as far as criticizing the school itself. However, dissatisfied with the outcome, the headteacher at Retford Oaks Academy in Nottinghamshire proceeded to escalate the matter by referring Mr Huggins to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), an entity empowered to impose bans on teachers from engaging in child-related work. This set in motion a distressing period of two months, described as a ‘nightmare,’ during which the married father-of-two and grandfather experienced deep despair, contemplating thoughts of self-harm, as his long-established reputation at the pinnacle of his profession faced jeopardization.
He blamed his treatment on a culture at the school for ‘pushing a radical agenda.’
In a recent development, the seasoned Teacher, received communication from the DBS confirming his exoneration, as no charges were warranted. However, he made the deliberate choice to publicly disclose the intricacies of his ordeal, serving as a cautionary tale for educators navigating the complex landscape of gender identity in today’s educational landscape. Mr Huggins said: ‘What’s happened to me is a cautionary tale for our modern times of how systems can be abused by people pushing an agenda. Maybe my experience has shined a light on why quite a few people are leaving the profession.’
Instead of supporting him, he said the school authorities ‘threw me to the lions’ and warned in the current culture ‘they are prepared to sacrifice people on the altar of these ideologies.’
In addition to being a history teacher Mr Huggins has also previously worked as an educational consultant and assistant head. He has also written books pertaining to teaching.
Mr Huggins said, “I read from the text book and talked about the hormonal changes that take place to the body during puberty. The text book described how boys develop broader shoulders and girls develop wider hips. One child said to me “Sir why do women have bigger hips” to which I replied “to have children.”
“I said when my grandson was born last month he fitted into the palm of my hands like this [cupping his hands together] and was the size of a small football.” He said during puberty, boys develop more muscles, women also develop more muscles as well but different muscles in order to give birth. I said when my wife gave birth and my daughter gave birth it was rather like “having a poo.” You say this because they tell you to personalise it, contextualise it.’ He explained how he talked about developing body and facial hair and when boys should start to shave. He also said it was a good time for boys to work out in the gym to add muscle as they produced far more testosterone ‘than an old man like me.’
‘What I didn’t know is that there were children in that classroom who were diagnosed with gender dysphoria and who were apparently upset by this. I had no idea of this.”
‘In order to be referred to safeguarding you have got to have caused “serious harm.” They said I made inappropriate comments and caused offence and harm to the children.’
Mr Huggins was never provided with any details of the gender identity issues of the pupils involved, who has complained or told by the school why he was referred to the authorities. He was however, given feedback about the complaints from the supply agency. He was accused of saying ‘boys must be muscly to attract girls’, ‘boys must start at the gym at 12 to get muscly’ and ‘girls get hips to allow them to child bear, something all women should do.’
In an official statement he said “I feel my conscience is clear and that I have not done anything wrong. I am always happy to reflect and learn from my mistakes, but I am at a complete loss over the allegations that have been made and why they were not addressed at the school level as they are pretty laughable.’
Referring to the moment he initially became aware of the complaint, he said, “I was on the floor, it was the worst thing that can ever happen to you as a teacher. You are being put through the same process as though you were a paedophile or hit or harmed a child. That’s how serious it is and it can destroy your reputation.”
‘There I was at the end of a glittering career and it could all be destroyed by these false allegations by a school who decided to pursue this radical agenda.” Mr Huggins said, “It utterly destroyed my confidence and left me at times feeling suicidal. Thinking I’ve worked hard all my life, I’ve devoted myself to teaching, they are desperate for teachers and they are treating someone like me like this, why?”
Despite being cleared he has never received an apology and must inform any school of the investigation if he applies for work in future.
Mr Huggins said his crime was to ‘upset some children who have got gender issues.’ He is ‘mystified’ as to why they complained but believes it must be because they don’t conform to the genders he was discussing. Adding, ‘I have this question mark over me now. My advice to other people going into the profession is “don’t teach science and don’t teach a puberty lesson” because it’s a minefield.’ He said would continue to do occasional supply teaching but would largely steer clear of the classroom as he concluded, “I don’t fit with the new culture.”
