A female teacher at an all-girls prep school in the United Kingdom was forced to apologize to her 11-year-old students after misgendering them. She was later fired for her transgression.

At an expensive private girls’ school in the UK, a philosophy and religious education teacher greeted her 11-year-old students at the beginning of class by saying, “Good afternoon, girls.”

She was quickly informed by her students that “not everyone here identifies as female,” and the next day the teacher arrived at class to find that the students had written their names and pronouns on the board.

When challenged by one of the students to “acknowledge” their pronouns, the teacher informed her students that if their pronouns were different than their biological sex, she would first have to involve their parents.

The students also held a protest at lunch over her misgendering of them, reportedly holding signs that said: “trans lives matter.”

“Before the end of the week I was in some sort of disciplinary process and the head of year was telling me I had to apologize to the girls,” the teacher told the Daily Mail on the condition of anonymity. “[The head of year] spoke to the children on my behalf saying no one here would want to hurt you and you’re all really loved by us.”

“She then worded the apology in terms of, ‘I am sorry you’re upset and we didn’t mean to offend. I’m sorry you felt bad.’ But it was all pretty humiliating and embarrassing,” the teacher said.

According to the teacher, issues surrounding gender identity and pronouns began to occur shortly after a ‘diversity and inclusion’ assembly that focused on gender and pronouns.

Following this incident, the teacher’s application to remain at the school after her one-term contract ended was rejected by the head teacher.

The teacher believes that, since she did not properly acknowledge the students’ desired gender identities, she was “managed out.”