Schools minister Damian Hinds has told The Telegraph that teachers must not feel “pressured” by transgender campaigners into allowing children to change gender without their parents' knowledge. The intervention follows a report by senior paediatrician Dr Hilary Cass, which found that social transitioning should be approached with “extreme caution” because "we simply do not know the long-term impacts". By Camilla Turner and Sarah Knapton.

Writing in The Sunday Times, columnist Hadley Freeman reflects on some of the issues raised in the report from Dr Cass, which was published last week. Outlining her views, Ms Freeman says: "No child and certainly no teenage girl should be told they were born in the wrong body."

Karon Monaghan of Matrix Chambers, one of the country’s leading equality and human rights barristers, has warned schools in England and Wales that the “toolkit” many of them use to support gender-questioning children is unlawful. Ms Monaghan has said schools and councils who use the toolkit, which was introduced by Brighton and Hove council in 2021 and subsequently replicated by a number of other local authorities, are very likely to be in breach of equality and human rights legislation. By Anna Fazackerley, The Observer.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has warned of a "ticking time bomb" of generational mental health problems after NHS figures showed more six to 10-year-olds are being seen for mental health issues than any adult age group. On average, every primary school classroom has a child with suspected mental health issues, prompted by lockdowns and long waits for treatment. By Max Kendix, The Times.

An investigation by The Observer has revealed that councils placed 706 children, the majority of them under the age of 16, in care homes that were not registered with Ofsted in 2022-23. Figures compiled by the paper with charity Together Trust also show a 277 per cent rise in the number of young people placed in illegal children’s homes in England between 2020 and 2023. By Tom Wall.

In an interview with The Times, Mark Prince, the father of a teenage knife crime victim, and Simon Henderson, the head of Eton College, explain how they are working together to turn young people away from gang culture. The piece explores how the pair came to meet and the ways in which the school is supporting the Kiyan Prince Foundation. Mr Henderson says: “Our contexts are clearly pretty different. But our core values and beliefs about how you get young people to take individual responsibility and agency for their own lives comprise a similar message.” By Nicola Woolcock.

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