Gender variance can be experienced at any age, even as young as two. It impairs the young person's achievements at school. If revealed, it frequently results in bullying, which intensifies the stress that these youngsters already have to deal with and impairs their learning. Transgender members of staff also experience stress. If they undertake the transition to from the gender role assigned to them at birth to that which accords with their gender identity, they too become the targets for transphobic bullying and crime.
Bullying that is not dealt with well and promptly can escalate into criminality. As part of its crime reduction programme, the Home Office has commissioned the Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) to develop toolkit to help schools meet their obligation to combat transphobic bullying: http://www.gires.org.uk/transbullying.php
The GIRES workshop will describe the toolkit and provide an opportunity to discuss how it can be used in schools.