Education Secretary Gillian Keegan orders teachers to reveal sex education class content to worried parents with schools set to get new rules by the end of the year amid fears of ‘inappropriate content’
- PM announced Relationships, Sex, Health and Education review last week
- Keegan: ‘This urgent review will get to the heart of how RSHE is currently taught’
Headteachers have been ordered to share the content of sex education classes with parents amid concerns over ‘inappropriate lessons’.
Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, has written to schools today, and said there is ‘no room for any disturbing content’.
New guidance for schools on relationships and sex education, which could be in place by the end of the year, may include age ratings to prevent children being taught things they are considered too young to understand.
It comes after Rishi Sunak announced a review into Relationships, Sex, Health and Education (RSHE) earlier this month.
Announcing more details on the RSHE review, the Government said it is determined to make sure such teaching ‘leaves children equipped to make informed decisions about their health, wellbeing and relationships, in a sensitive way that reflects their stage of development’.
Ms Keegan said ‘This urgent review will get to the heart of how RSHE is currently taught and should be taught in the future.
‘This will leave no room for any disturbing content, restore parents’ confidence, and make sure children are even better protected.’
Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, has written to schools today, and said there is ‘no room for any disturbing content’.
New guidance for schools on relationships and sex education, which could be in place by the end of the year, may include age ratings to prevent children being taught things they are considered too young to understand.
Her comments were criticised by a school leader’s union. Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said it was ‘very disappointing to see Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s implicit criticism of schools when she says the review will restore the confidence of parents’.
The Department for Education (DfE) said on Friday that it would be leading the review but that it will be informed by an independent panel which will provide ‘external expertise’.
The guidance is expected to be released in the coming months, possibly before the beginning of the next academic year, and will then be subject to public consultation.
The consultation is expected to conclude by the end of the year, with the guidance coming into statutory force as soon as possible after that, the department said.
The RSHE guidance is separate to guidance for schools in relation to transgender issues, which the Prime Minister confirmed on Thursday will be published ‘for the summer term’.
The review is expected to consider how to make sure all RSHE teaching is factual and does not present contested views on sensitive topics as fact.
It will engage with those working with children across the education and health sectors and draw on close work with the schools watchdog Ofsted to understand what material is currently used in the classroom and consider what improvements might need to be made, the DfE said.
The independent panel is expected to advise on ‘clear safeguards to stop pupils from being taught contested and potentially damaging concepts’, including bringing in age ratings setting out what is appropriate to be taught at what age.
The DfE said independent provider Oak National Academy will develop curriculum materials ‘to make sure every school can access high-quality, compliant resources which will build on what is already available for schools’.
Ms Keegan has written to schools to remind them they are required by law to publish a relationships or a relationships and sex education policy and consult parents on it, the DfE added.
The letter makes clear that parents should be able to view all curriculum materials and that they can ask to see material if it has not already been shared, especially in relation to sensitive topics, the department said.
Conservative MP Miriam Cates has claimed some pupils have been subjected to relationships and sex education classes that are ‘age-inappropriate, extreme, sexualising and inaccurate’.
Conservative MP Miriam Cates has claimed some pupils have been subjected to relationships and sex education classes that are ‘age-inappropriate, extreme, sexualising and inaccurate’.
Ms Cates previously told the House of Commons: ‘Graphic lessons on oral sex, how to choke your partner safely and 72 genders. This is what passes for relationships and sex education in British schools.
‘Across the country, children are being subjected to lessons that are age-inappropriate, extreme, sexualising and inaccurate, often using resources from unregulated organisations that are actively campaigning to undermine parents.
‘This is not a victory for equality, it is a catastrophe for childhood.’
Mr Barton said the ‘vast majority’ of schools teach RSHE ‘cautiously, sensitively and in an age-appropriate manner’ and insisted that claims made about inappropriate teaching are ‘overblown, sweeping and supported by evidence which is flimsy at best’.
He added: ‘The Government has provided very little training support for the teaching of this subject and we sincerely hope the review that is due to take place will make recommendations around providing more and better-resourced training.
‘This is such a sensitive and difficult subject to navigate that it really requires the provision of specialist teachers, but the Government expects it to be taught by existing classroom teachers who are also teaching other subjects. As ever, it expects to deliver major policies on the cheap, and then is quick to criticise schools.’
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