Lessons For Life – The Case For Statutory Sex And Relationship Education
According to Nicky Morgan, there’s no need to make sex and relationship education compulsory; but many experts have good reason to disagree, says Kelly Clark…
- by Kelly Clark
When 24-year-old Heena Njie stands in front of a class of youngsters wielding a plastic penis, she knows to expect a few giggles.
But she’s also aware that she has the undivided attention of her audience who are desperate to know what this young and ‘cool’ visitor has to tell them. She’s not their teacher and she’s not their parent, so children feel it’s okay to chat freely to her.
Heena is one of many young people working for Peer2Peer Education, a community interest company delivering workshops on everything from teenage pregnancy and peer pressure to forced marriages and grooming, to 11 to 19-year-olds.
“Teachers are more comfortable with us coming in and giving demonstrations,” she says. “It can be difficult for them to deal with talking about contraception and STIs. They are also pushed to capacity with the curriculum and appreciate us doing the lesson planning and sourcing resources.”
What matters
The National Curriculum states sex and relationship education is compulsory from age 11. Children must be taught about reproduction, sexuality and sexual health, and schools must have a written policy on sex education – but the finer details are down to individual establishments.
While Peer2Peer has an extensive range of lesson plans, it also creates bespoke courses for schools with particular issues. A session on sexting was recently created on request. Heena says sex education is as much about keeping young people emotionally and physically safe as it is about stopping teenage pregnancy.
“We make lessons very real,” she explains. “We have all been through something personally and we share our stories – it’s not easy for teachers to do that. We find children do not think it would ever happen to them. Our lessons are also interactive and fun.
‘We use role play; we get them to put a condom on a plastic willy and we do balloon explosions to demonstrate you can’t use Vaseline on a condom or else it will split. That way, it sticks in their minds. If they find these things out when they’re having sex, they may end up with an STI, so it’s vital they have PSHE – these issues come up every day and they need to be educated on what’s right and wrong.
‘We find some don’t even know what consent is and that’s a worry in itself. We are also trained to keep a look out for anything that concerns us. We came across one girl who made comments which showed she was very sexually active, which became a child protection issue. It’s scary and makes us aware of how important our job is.”
Constant communication
Regardless of the guidance – or lack of it – from the government, Oaks Park High School in Redbridge is so committed to PSHE that a team of trained staff give weekly lessons. “Some schools do not have designated time for PSHE and do one day per term to make sure it’s covered,” comments Lynda Smith, PSHE co-ordinator.
“Here, every single week, Years 7, 8 and 9 have one-hour timetabled lessons and Year 10 and 11 have fortnightly lessons. Those sessions are taken by senior leaders and heads of year, as it’s that important.”
The school is also spending £10,000 in Lottery funding on an extra programme of work for Year 10 and 11 from Peer2Peer Education. “It’s important children are given the correct information in a safe environment,” insists Lynda. “A lot of our children are from different ethnic backgrounds and so these issues may not be spoken about at home. They already know their teachers and have a trusting relationship so are comfortable talking with them.
‘We also have a question box for children to post their queries. When students start at this school, parents are made aware of how we handle sex education, but we don’t make a big thing of it with them. It’s just what we do.”
It’s a similar story at a multi-academy trust in Essex which looks after two secondary and four primary schools, where all age groups are given PSHE. Helena Mills, CEO of the Burnt Mill Academy Trust, says: “We don’t teach an hour a week of PSHE, but instead ensure it is threaded through the curriculum every single minute of the day. We don’t ask parents to decide on having a session on developing their children emotionally and socially, it is an ongoing learning experience which is made relevant to the needs of the individuals.
“At BMAT, we have a director of spiritual, moral, social and cultural values who works with senior leaders and teachers to ensure we plan for a variety of opportunities throughout the week to develop our children. This includes things like ‘Thought For The Week’ and individual mentoring. Is it really appropriate to discuss sex for one hour in Year 10 and then never again until it comes up?
‘Sex education needs to be raised regularly, especially with teenagers. It is important for children to understand from a very early age about the different types of relationships. Many of our children are from different types of families, for example many are from same sex parents, and so they need to understand and be respectful of these differences.”
Training ground
Responding to a consultation by Barnado’s on support and sanctions for children who display harmful sexual behaviour, the NAHT said schools have a role to play in delivering sex education, which helps to combat the issue. James Bowen, director of middle leaders’ union NAHT Edge, has called on the Government to make “high quality, funding training” available to teachers to “develop their knowledge, understanding and confidence in teaching about these issues”.
Big Talk Education not only trains professionals and provides workshops to parents, it has delivered sex and relationship education to 16,000 four to 18-year-olds in 120 schools just this year. “There is a small number of teachers – and it seems that number is getting smaller – who are willing to stand up in front of classes and teach sex education, and even less who want to stand up in front of parents,” observes MD and founder Lynnette Smith, who has a background in youth and community work and is a qualified teacher.
“Schools have to do virtually nothing, but they are realising something needs to be done. We should be starting in nursery so children know to speak out if someone touches them inappropriately or shows them things. If we want to keep our children safe, this is how we have to do it. The earlier we start speaking to children about it, the easier it will be.”
Lynnette says if she had just 15 minutes with Nicky Morgan, she would make her see why it’s essential for schools to give sex education. “MPs are just ordinary people,” she adds. “If their children have gone without sex education at school and are fine, they believe that’s okay – but, our young people are so vulnerable.”
Nadia Mendoz is the co-founder of The Self-Esteem Team, which works with students, teachers and parents on mental health, body image and exam stress. In her view, “Some schools really struggle to deliver PSHE because, through no fault of their own, they haven’t been trained to deal with the Now Generation.
‘What you end up with is someone who went into teaching because they like maths or geography now having to blush their way through how to use a condom. And that discomfort is completely understandable. If you don’t have training, it can be nerve-wracking to engage with students about it. The government needs to introduce a high quality programme in which there is a budget to pay for organisations like ours to visit, as well as re-evaluating teacher training, so there is a whole school approach.”
The case for change
In February 2015, a report by the Education Select Committee called for sex and relationship education to be placed on the national curriculum for the first time, making it a statutory requirement in all state primary and secondary schools.
MPs were told it is now ‘normal’ for 14-year-olds to pose in bras for social media photos, and that around one in three 15-year-olds will have sent someone a naked photo of themselves.
Browse resources for Sexual Health Week.
