In response to Miriam Cates bringing the debate on RSE materials in schools on 30th June, detailed in our previous post, the Schools Minister Robin Walker had the following response in Westminster Hall:
I’d like to extend my congratulations to everyone who has spoken in this debate. My apologies that I don’t have time to respond to every point that was raised but I think I can respond to many of the points.
I’ve listened carefully to some of the examples that have been given by all members on both sides of the house in particular my honourable friend for Penistone and Stockbridge. There’s no doubt they contain things that are totally unsuitable for school age children.
The “age is only a number” is clearly unsuitable to be used in the context of consent and the Proud Trust dice game is something the DfE has made clear is unacceptable to be used as a school resource. I have to say despite a lot of coverage of that particular issue we are unaware of any individual cases where it has been used in schools.
But high quality RSE is important as my honourable friend has set out, and from her own experience can play a key role in keeping children and young people safe, equipping them to understand and resist harmful influences and expectations. It can only do this if it is taught well and appropriately.
Good teachers working in good schools which engage expertly with parents can find the right balance. To support teachers to deliver in the classroom we have run expert-led teacher training webinars, they covered pornography, domestic abuse, sexual exploitation – topics that teachers told us they find difficult to teach. We also published additional guidance to assist schools in tackling abuse and harassment which are sensitive topics.
It has been almost three years since the DfE published statutory guidance on RSE and almost two years since relationships education became a compulsory subject for all schools. And sex education became a compulsory subject for all secondary schools. Of course, as has been acknowledged, primary schools can choose to teach RSE to meet the needs of their pupils, but if they do teach sex education they must consult with parents on their policy and grant parents an automatic right to withdraw their child from sex education.
The minister yields to Rosie Duffield, Labour MP for Canterbury who asks: “Would the Minister agree with me that given the point that parents want to see the materials, it’s rather disturbing, and certainly me and my colleagues have heard reports from head teachers who said that they are not allowed or enabled to share that material from some lobby groups because it’s deemed “commercially sensitive.”
RW responds: it is concerning and I want to come to that in more detail because I think I can provide some clarification on that. At the heart of RSEHE is the need to keep children healthy, happy and safe, and the honourable gentleman opposite gave a very powerful example of where more education could make a difference to safety, and I sympathise with his deep hurt in that space.
My honourable friend for Thurrock also spoke passionately about the safety and centrality of consent and this includes knowing the law on the teaching of relationships sex and health about relationships from primary school onwards and ensuring that younger children understand the importance of building caring friendships and learn the concepts of personal privacy, including that it isn’t always right to keep secrets if they relate to being safe and that each person’s body belongs to them.
In the Schools white paper, the government committed to keeping children safe through strengthening RSHE as well as our statutory safeguarding guidance “keeping children safe in education.” The honourable gentleman for Kirkaldy (Neale Hanvey, Alba Party) spoke about the centrality of safeguarding in this. This will support schools to protect children from abuse and exploitation in situations inside and outside schools.
The KSIE guidance is updated annually and it’s clear that schools and colleges should be aware of the importance of making clear that there is zero tolerance approach to sexual violence, sexual harassment is never acceptable, and it should not be tolerated. It should never be passed off as banter or just having a laugh as part of growing up or boys being boys. Failure to do so could lead to an unacceptable culture of behaviour and unsafe environment or in the worst-case scenario – a culture that normalises abuse, leading to children accepting it as normal and not coming forward to report on it.
The RSHE statutory guidance advises schools to be alive to issues such as sexism, misogyny, homophobia and gender stereotypes and to take positive action to tackle these issues.
As part of relationships education all primary school pupils are taught about the importance of respectful relationships and the different types of loving healthy relationships that exist. Pupils will also be taught about boundaries and privacy and how to recognise and report feelings of being unsafe.
To support teachers to deliver these topics safely and with confidence we have produced RSHE teacher training modules which are freely available on gov.uk. We’ve also committed to developing a further package of support for teachers to deliver lessons on sensitive topics such as abuse pornography and consent. This package includes teacher webinars delivered from March 2022 onwards and non-statutory guidance which offers practical suggestions for supporting children and young people to develop healthy, respectful and kind relationships. The guidance has been informed by an evidence review, stakeholder input and an expert teacher group, and we will publish this guidance this autumn.
The Ofsted review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges found that online forms of abuse are increasingly prevalent with 88% of girls and 49% of boys reporting being sent unwanted sexual images. 80% of girls and 40% of boys felt pressured to provide sexual images of themselves. The review also showed that children even in primary schools are accessing pornography and sharing nude images.
We want to make sure that children receive appropriate teaching in schools on topics that are relevant to their lived experience rather than going online to educate themselves.
Through the RSHE curriculum, pupils will be taught about online relationships, the implications of sharing private or personal data including images online. Harmful contact, cyber bullying and over reliance on social media and where to get help and support from misuses which do unfortunately occur online.
Through the topic of internet safety and harms, pupils will be taught to become discerning customers of information and to understand how comparing yourself with others online can impact on your own body image. The department is reviewing its guidance on teaching online safety in schools which supports teachers and embeds teaching about online safety in subjects such as computing, RSHE and citizenship. This guidance will be published in autumn of this year. The online safety bill will also ensure that children are better protected from pornography wherever it appears online.
The statutory RSHE guidance sets out the content that we expect children to know before they complete each phase of education. We have however been clear that our guiding principles for the development of the statutory guidance were that all of the compulsory subject content must be age appropriate and developmentally appropriate.
It must be taught sensitively and inclusively with respect to the backgrounds and beliefs of pupils and parents whilst always with the aim of providing pupils with the knowledge they need. Given the need for a differentiated approach and the sensitive and personal nature of many of the topics within the RSHE curriculum, it is important that schools have the flexibility to design their own curriculum so that it is relevant and appropriate for the context of their pupils. The department’s policy has there to trust the expertise of schools to decide the detail of the content they teach and what resources they use.
As mentioned previously, we’ve made the commitment in the White Paper to strengthen our guidance in this respect and we will also review and update this guidance regularly, at least every three years. We’re confidant that the majority of schools are capable of doing this well and have been successful in developing a high quality RSHE curriculum that is appropriate for the needs of the pupils. But in the context of this debate, that this isn’t always the case and there are genuine concerns about many of the materials that have been used.
I would like to stress that allowing schools the flexibility to make their own decisions about the curriculum doesn’t mean that they should be unaccountable for what they teach. Schools are required by law to publish their RHSE policies and to consult parents on them.
As their children’s primary educators, parents should be given every opportunity to understand the purpose and content of what their children are being taught. We’ve set out a clear expectation for schools to share examples of resources with parents in the RHSE statutory guidance which all schools must have regard to.
Schools are also bound with other legal duties with regard to delivery of the wider curriculum. All local authority-maintained schools are required to publish the content of their school curriculum including the details of how parents or other members of the public can find out more about the curriculum a school is following. There is a parallel requirement in the model funding for academy trusts for each academy to publish the same information on their website and it is our intention that should form part of the new standards for academies.
As my honourable friend for Penistone and Stockbridge raised and as my honourable friend for Aberconwy (Robin Millar) echoed as well, last week on the committee debate on the Schools Bill the issue was highlighted of schools who believe they were unable to share resources with parents by restrictions placed on them by intellectual property legislation.
We are clear schools can show curriculum materials to parents including resources provided by external organisations without infringing an external provider’s copyright in the resource. For example, it’s perfectly possible for a school to invite parents into the school to view materials on the premises.
Whilst we have to be careful not to overburden schools with repeated requests, we do expect schools to respond positively to all reasonable requests from parents to share curriculum material. We therefore expect schools to share RSHE content materials with parents openly and transparently where requested.
We are clear that they should not enter into any contracts with third parties that will restrict them from sharing RHSE resources with parents. The RHSE Train the Trainer programme that we delivered from 2020-21 brought to light several examples of good practice in schools including where schools had engaged with parents effectively, but I apologise that I’m not going to have time in this debate to address those.
Many schools draw on the expertise of external organisations as we’ve heard to enhance the delivery of RHSE, and many will use resources that are produced externally. To help schools to make the best choices the department published non-statutory guidelines “Plan your relationships and sexual health curriculum” which sets out practical advice for schools on a number of topics including using externally produced resources and the honourable lady quoted indeed from that.
Concerns have been raised today about what schools teach children about transgender issues. Schools should be a safe and welcoming place for all pupils, and we believe that all children should be supported whilst growing up. However, we recognise that gender identity can be a sensitive and complex topic for schools to navigate. However there is tension sometimes between rights based on the two protected characteristics of sex and gender reassignment. We are working with the Equalities and Human Rights Commission to make we are giving the clearest possible guidance for schools on transgender issues.
We will hold a full public consultation on the draft guidance later this year, and given the complexity of the subject we do need to get this right and we want to take full account of the review being conducted by Dr Hilary Cass.
I realise my honourable friend will need time to respond and so I just conclude by saying I hear very clearly the concerns that have been raised. As the parent of both a girl and a boy, we need to address these issues and we need to do so in a way that can reassure parents but can continue to deliver high quality RSHE education.
Miriam Cates concludes: Can I thank the minister for his response. I am looking forward to consultation and the guidance. I thank everybody who contributed. I think it’s been a very good debate and I think we’ve had some surprising areas of agreement. I think most of us have agreed that this is a very important topic and the key phrase that’s come out is “age appropriate.”
I personally don’t think that it’s up to schools or teachers or potentially parents to decide that. I think we need child development experts on the case to determine which materials are suitable for which time. Can I just conclude by reflecting on my honourable friend’s speech that family is key to this.
Parent’s values and parent’s choice is so important, and we must never teach RSE in schools outside of the context of respecting parent’s choice and parent’s values. Parents are the ones who love and are the most invested in their children, and theirs are the views we should most take into account.
Watch the full debate on this link from 15:00 onwards.