Maidstone mum’s anger as video on FGM shown to Maplesden Noakes School pupils in PSHE lesson

A video on the subject of female genital mutilation (FGM) shown to 11 and 12-year-olds at a secondary school was so upsetting it caused one child to faint.

The video, which starts with a warning that it contains graphic material, was shown to a Year 7 class at Maplesden Noakes Academy in Maidstone during a PHSE (Personal, Social, Health and Economic) class.

One mother said: “It caused my 11-year-old daughter to faint and was distressing for her and our family.

“I am extremely disappointed that parents were not alerted to this video before it was shown.”

She said: “I understand that FGM is on the national curriculum, but how you teach FGM is completely up to the school.

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“Maplesden Noakes chose to show a 30-minute video from Unilad/Ladbible to a group of 11 and 12-year-olds – this is a website aimed at adults.”

The video relayed the personal experience of a 29-year-old woman now living in London but originally from Somalia.

She described in graphic detail how she and her two cousins were physicallly held in a chair by various close relatives while their genitals were cut off with a razor without anaesthetic. The girls were only six at the time.

The woman, identified as Shamsa, said: “It was another level of terror to know that the people doing this to you were the people who were supposed to protect you.”

Equally distressing were her experiences in later life. Her vagina was sewn up as part of the procedure, leaving her unable to urinate or have her period without intense pain.

Richard Owen is the head teacher at Maplesden Noakes. He said: “We share PSHE content in advance with parents. Parents are able to request that their child opts out of specific content.

“We follow government guidelines extremely carefully and of course, no student has to engage with anything that they find distressing.

“Our curriculum is carefully sequenced and designed to support the wellbeing of students now and in the future.”

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But the mum, who has now asked for her daughter to be withdrawn from any future lessons about FGM, and has asked for a forward programme of topics to be covered, insisted she had received no advance warning from the school.

She said: “They categorically did not share anything about the FGM lesson beforehand with me.

“What the school did do, however, which I highly suspect happened as a direct consequence of my daughter fainting, was to issue a parent email after that lesson, ahead of those students who had not yet had that FGM class.”

It is compulsory for secondary schools to teach pupils about FGM and other harmful practices, including forced marriage and honour-based abuse.

FGM is most common within communities from Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and usually takes place between infancy and the age of 15.

“I understand that FGM is on the national curriculum, but how you teach FGM is completely up the school….”

The practice is illegal in Britain, but parents from those communities sometimes send their daughters back to those countries for the “cutting” to be carried out.

Figures from the NHS show that, in Kent, around 30 new victims of FGM are seen by doctors, nurses or midwives each year.

A spokesman for the NSPCC said: “FGM is a barbaric practice that leaves its victims physically and mentally scarred.

“We urge any young women or girls dealing with the physical and emotional impact of FGM to seek help and support.”

The charity has a helpline for victims of FGM to call. The number is 0800 028 3550 or you can email [email protected].

The NHS only began recording cases of FGM in Britain in 2015. From then up until last year, a total of 30,335 individual victims have been identified across the country.