Teachers who say "good morning, girls" to pupils inside girls' schools are "absolutely fine" to do so, the Education Secretary has insisted.

Gillian Keegan has called for a "big dose of common sense" when dealing with issues of sensitivity and gender identity inside classrooms following a report some children at an all girls' private school were upset at being referred to as "girls".

The Mail on Sunday reported a female teacher at an unnamed school was made to apologise after some pupils complained when she greeted a Year 7 class with "good afternoon girls".

"We need to be sensitive obviously to children but more importantly make sure parents are fully involved as well," Ms Keegan told Times Radio.

She continued: “We need to look after the wellbeing of all pupils. In that case, the wellbeing of girls is also very important and ‘good morning, girls’ is absolutely fine to say in a girls school to a girls class.

“We have to be sensible and have a big dose of common sense here.”

Ms Keegan said she is working on new transgender guidance for schools with Kemi Badenoch, the women and equalities minister, which should be published before the start of the summer holidays.

She told Times Radio: "We can't mix up sex and gender.

"We've seen what happened in Scotland when it got that round the wrong way. And really our guidance needs to provide safeguarding for all children and make sure that, you know, it does cover all children's rights as well.

"So yes, we need to be sensitive, but we also need to have common sense."

"It will be published before the summer recess. 

"I'm working with the women and equalities minister and others as well to make sure that we get that balance right and then it will be consulted on, so a draft will be put forward for consultation, so that we can get all the views because we do know that it is a sensitive area."

According to The Mail on Sunday, a philosophy and religious education teacher was told to apologise to pupils following "some sort of disciplinary process" in the wake of complaints at her greeting "good afternoon girls" at the start of a lesson.

The teacher claimed she was later "managed out" by senior staff who refused to extend her one-term contract at the school which is part of the independent Girls' Day School Trust.