From the Children’s Society to Stonewall, from the Education Select Committee to the trade unions – the announcement that relationships and sex education (RSE) is to be made statutory from September 2019 has been widely welcomed.
PSHE also looks certain to become a statutory subject, although this is set to happen at a later date once the content for the new-look RSE is confirmed.
The decision follows a wide-ranging campaign over the past few years that has produced a wealth of research evidence (see below) showing the significant pressures that young people are facing today and the extent of problems such as sexting, sexual bullying and assault, issues around consent and pornography.
Summing up the views of many, Ian Green, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust – an AIDS and HIV charity – said this week that the campaigners “could no longer be ignored”.
Education secretary Justine Greening made the announcement last Wednesday, March 1, in a written Parliamentary statement. The regulatory change is to be made via a tabled amendment to the Children and Social Work Bill that will require all primary schools in England to teach age-appropriate “relationships education” and all secondary schools in England to teach age-appropriate “relationships and sex education”.
The DfE said that sex and relationships education (SRE), as it is more commonly known, would be renamed relationships and sex education – or RSE – “to emphasise the central importance of healthy relationships”.
A DfE statement added: “The focus in primary school will be on building healthy relationships and staying safe. As children get older, it is important that they start to develop their understanding of healthy adult relationships in more depth, with sex education delivered in that context.”
The amendment will also give the education secretary the power to require that PSHE is taught in all academies and maintained schools.
However, this will only happen “following further departmental work and consultation on subject content”.
The Parliamentary statement added: “By creating a power on PSHE, we are allowing time to consider what the right fit of this subject is with relationships education and RSE.”
The campaign for statutory SRE has been on-going for some 30 years, led by organisations including the Sex Education Forum.
More recently, the campaign has gained support from more than 100 organisations, including five House of Commons Select Committees and the likes of Mumsnet, Girlguiding, Stonewall and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners.
Real momentum began to build after the publication of the Education Select Committee’s Life Lessons report in 2014, which highlighted significant confusion over the status of the subjects and problems with consistency of teaching.
Currently, PSHE and SRE are not statutory subjects on the national curriculum. However, the national curriculum framework statutory guidance states that schools should make provision for PSHE and that secondary schools must teach SRE. Despite this, the only topic SRE must cover under legislation is HIV, AIDS and other STIs. And even so, research last year by the Terence Higgins Trust found that only one in seven 16 to 24-year-olds said they had received SRE during their time at school
Now that the move to statutory status has been confirmed, the key issue now will be the debate about what topics and content should be included within the curriculum for the new subjects.
On RSE, the Parliamentary statement said: “The DfE will lead a comprehensive programme of engagement to set out age-appropriate subject content and identify the support schools need to deliver high-quality teaching. Regulations and statutory guidance will then be subject to full public consultation. In line with this timetable, schools will be required to teach this content from September 2019.”
A DfE Policy Statement, published on the same day as the Parliamentary statement, outlined plans to make the new subjects part of the basic school curriculum. On content, it emphasises flexibility for schools.
However, it adds: “We are clear on the themes and issues they should cover, in an age-appropriate way, to achieve this. Relationships and RSE will be age-appropriate, building knowledge and life-skills over time in a way that prepares pupils for issues they will soon face.” The Policy Statement said the subjects “will likely focus on”:
- Different types of relationships, including friendships, family relationships, dealing with strangers and, at secondary school, intimate relationships.
- How to recognise, understand and build healthy relationships, including self-respect and respect for others, commitment, tolerance, boundaries and consent, how to manage conflict, and how to recognise unhealthy relationships.
- How relationships may affect health and wellbeing, including mental health.
- Healthy relationships and safety online.
- Factual knowledge, at secondary school, around sex, sexual health and sexuality, set firmly within the context of relationships.
The DfE has also said it will be updating statutory guidance for teaching RSE. The last guidance was published in 2000 and has been criticised for being notably out of date. Schools are also to be required to “publish and make available” their policy on teaching relationships education or RSE.
When it comes to PSHE, the Policy Statement said that review work would be carried out to determine appropriate content in the context of statutory RSE and to produce new statutory PSHE guidance. However, it adds that the DfE will expect PSHE to cover the “broad pillars of”:
- Healthy bodies and lifestyles, including keeping safe, puberty, drugs and alcohol education.
- Healthy minds, including emotional wellbeing, resilience, mental health.
- Economic wellbeing and financial capability.
- Careers education, preparation for the workplace and making a positive contribution to society.
The DfE has said that parents will retain the right to withdraw children from sex education while faith schools will still be permitted to teach “in accordance with the tenets of their faith”.
The Policy Statement adds that draft regulations and guidance for consultation will be ready in the autumn, with new statutory guidance published in early 2018 – at least one year before September 2019. Ms Greening said: “RSE and PSHE teach children and young people how to stay safe and healthy, and how to negotiate some of the personal and social challenges they will face growing up and as adults. These subjects form part of the building blocks young people need to thrive in modern Britain.
“We need high-quality, age-appropriate content that relates to the modern world, addressing issues like cyber-bullying, ‘sexting’ and internet safety. We will now begin a review and gather expert opinions to ensure these subjects really have a positive impact on young people.”
Key evidence in the campaign for statutory RSE
May 2013: Ofsted’s report into PSHE provision – Not Yet Good Enough, finds that the teaching of PSHE in 40 per cent of schools “requires improvement”, while SRE “requires improvement” in around half of secondaries and a third of primaries:
http://bit.ly/16hPfOq
February 2015: The Education Select Committee publishes the findings of its inquiry into PSHE and SRE, calling for the subjects to be made statutory. Its Life Lessons report also calls for SRE to be renamed RSE. MPs warn of a “lack of clarity” about the status of SRE and that young people “consistently report” receiving “inadequate” SRE: http://bit.ly/2lWY0JB
December 2015: In a strongly worded letter, Education Select Committee chair Neil Carmichael MP writes to the education secretary expressing his frustration at the government’s “feeble” response to Life Lessons. He accuses the DfE of “side-stepping” the issues raised: http://bit.ly/22TkpqO
December 2015: “If children are unable to recognise that they have been abused and then explain it to a responsible adult, it is simply not possible for them to report their abuse to the authorities.” A report into child sexual abuse from the Children’s Commissioner reminds us that 66 per cent of child sexual abuse takes place within the family or its trusted circle, meaning schools have a key role in helping pupils to recognise abuse: http://bit.ly/2mtE57Z
January 2016: Mr Carmichael writes to the DfE again after yet more delays in its response to Life Lessons. This time he is supported by the chairs of three other Parliamentary Select Committees – Health, Home Affairs, and Business Innovation and Skills: http://bit.ly/2mFn0oC
January 2016: Half of young people have not learnt at school how to recognise the signs of grooming or how to get help if they are being sexually abused, research from the Sex Education Forum reveals. A third of young people have learnt nothing about sexual consent and many do not know what an abusive relationship looks like, the study involving 2,300 young people aged 11 to 25 finds: http://bit.ly/2lcPtVD
June 2016: Half of 11 to 16-year-olds have been exposed to pornography, with the vast majority having viewed it by the age of 14. This includes 28 per cent of 11 to 12-year-olds who have seen porn online. Research from the Children’s Commissioner and the NSPCC warns that many of these young people believe that what they have seen is “realistic”: http://bit.ly/2mtRcq1
July 2016: A survey of 16 to 24-year-olds carried out by the Terence Higgins Trust shows that 99 per cent of young people think RSE should be mandatory in all schools and that one in seven had not received this education themselves.
September 2016: One in three 16 to 18-year-old girls have experienced unwanted sexual touching while at school – and the way incidents are being handled is “alarmingly inconsistent”. An investigation by MPs also finds that during 2014, 59 per cent of young women aged 13 to 21 faced some form of sexual harassment while at school or college. The investigation was carried out the Women and Equalities Select Committee (the fifth Select Committee to sign up to the campaign), who said that sexual harassment has become “a normal part of school life” for many: http://bit.ly/2lrva1P
January 2017: A report from the Children’s Commissioner finds that children are often signing away their rights and data online without even realising – especially on social media websites. It highlights other dangers: almost a third of 15-year-olds admit to having sent a naked photo of themselves at least once, and over a third of 12 to 15-year-olds have seen hateful content directed at a particular group of people in the last year: http://bit.ly/2lWWDur
Selected reaction to the SRE/PSHE decision
Neil Carmichael MP, chair of the Education Select Committee: “I welcome the announcement, which follows several years of campaigning both in and outside of Parliament by many organisations and individuals. The Education Committee will look carefully at the Policy Statement and consider the detail of the proposals.”
Ruth Hunt, chief executive, Stonewall: “This is a huge step forward and a fantastic opportunity to improve inclusion and acceptance in education. Currently over half of secondary students say they never have any discussion of LGBT relationships in their lessons, and over half of lesbian, gay, bi and trans young people are bullied in our schools because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. By mandating all schools to provide good-quality, age-appropriate RSE the government has paved the way to change that situation.”
Matthew Reed, chief executive, The Children’s Society: “This change is long overdue and an essential step in safeguarding children and young people. It is important to equip children and young people to make safe choices, both on and offline and crucially to ensure they know where to seek help and support if something does not seem or feel right. Without such knowledge children can be left at greater risk of harm and abuse.”
Ian Green, chief executive, Terrence Higgins Trust: “The silence has finally been broken on SRE. We are grateful that the government has finally listened to all of the parents, teachers, campaigners and above all, young people, who have been calling for compulsory SRE for years and who could no longer be ignored. With one in seven young people not receiving any SRE at all, this landmark decision could potentially change young lives for generations to come. Until now, there has been nothing in place to ensure we are safeguarding all young people by discussing issues such as consent, abuse and what a healthy relationship looks like from a young age, in a safe environment and with trained professionals.”
Kevin Courtney, general secretary, National Union of Teachers: “The goal must be high-quality and age-appropriate SRE across all key stages, which is fit for the complexity of young people’s lives today. Implementation must ensure that, in primary, the curriculum covers the whole range of issues, not just relationships. We hope the DfE will work with the profession as it revises the SRE curriculum, and identifies the support and resource for CPD, needed to make SRE a high status and highly valued subject.”
Malcolm Trobe, interim general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders: “We do not believe it is necessary for the government to provide standardised frameworks or programmes of study, and we would urge ministers against being too prescriptive. It is important that schools have the freedom to be innovative and the flexibility to teach a PSHE programme, including RSE, which meets the needs of their pupils.”
Jonathan Baggaley, chief executive, PSHE Association: “This is a historic step and a clear statement of intent from government. The consultation on broader PSHE education is an opportunity to continue to make the case for this vital school subject and to ensure it meets the needs of young people in this fast-moving world. Any change must guarantee appropriate training, support and resources for teachers and schools.”
Further information
The DfE Policy Statement on relationships education, RSE and PSHE is at http://bit.ly/2lJTvB7