Catholic primary school managers said their pupils should not be taught transgender theory, in a strongly worded letter to Government ministers.

The Catholic Primary Schools Management Association (CPSMA) has argued there is a lack of scientific consensus on the issue, that it would create division in schools, and that it might add to “a growing psychological contagion” among children.

The CPSMA says teaching primary children “what it means to be transgender would require to teach something about which there is neither a scientific nor social consensus to highly impressionable young children”.

It would be “counterproductive, generating unnecessary divisions in school communities where none now exist”.

According to the CPSMA, “more seriously, it might add to a growing psychological contagion amongst young and vulnerable children”. There has been a huge increase in recent years in the number of children saying they are transgender.

“We believe a more prudent and sensible policy is to teach children to respect every human being and to allow children to be children,” it added.

“We should not prematurely introduce children to complex and sensitive topics around which there is no scientific or medical consensus.”