November 2011
FPA and Brook response to the Department for Education PSHE education Review
FPA and Brook are two of the UK’s leading sexual health charities. Our mission is to ensure that everyone, including young people, can enjoy their sexuality free from prejudice and without harm.
FPA does this through providing a comprehensive sexual health information services for professionals and the public; running community based relationships and sex education programmes; and campaigning to ensure that high quality sexual health information and services are available to all who need them.
Brook is the UK’s leading provider of sexual health services and advice for young people under 25. Brook services provide free and confidential sexual health information, contraception, pregnancy testing, advice and counselling, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections and outreach and education work, reaching over 300,000 young people every year.
Together FPA and Brook have over 125 years experience in sexual health and work with hundreds of thousands of young people every year.
FPA and Brook both believe that relationships and sex education (RSE) should be a statutory entitlement for all children and young people within the broader personal, health and social wellbeing curriculum.
FPA and Brook are both founding members of the Sex Education Forum (SEF)[1] the national authority on relationships and sex education which was set up in 1989. SEF is a unique umbrella body bringing together over 50 organisations involved in supporting and delivering sex and relationships education including the Church of England Education Division, Barnardos and Parenting UK.
FPA and Brook welcome the opportunity to provide a joint submission to the Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education Review. We have restricted our comments to relationships and sex education as this is our key area of expertise. Our response to the PSHE education Review has been informed by engaging young people and FPA and Brook education professionals, using the available evidence, and through our experience of delivering education in schools and the community.
Introduction
FPA and Brook believe that the term ‘relationships and sex education’ best reflects the education work and programmes that we deliver and that currently are delivered in schools. Throughout this submission we will refer to relationships and sex education. We directly quote publications that talk about sex and relationships education (SRE) therefore, in places, we may refer to ‘SRE’.
See below for a summary of our key points from our response to the PSHE education Review:
· Policy on relationships and sex education must demonstrate compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)
· Relationships and sex education should be made statutory part of the curriculum for all children and young people, as a minimum relationships education should be made statutory
· Updated guidance on relationships and sex education should clearly state the core outcomes for relationships and sex education that should be delivered in all schools
· The Government should reconsider their statement that they will not change the parental right to withdraw their child from relationships and sex education lessons as this is incompatible with the UNCRC
· Relationships and sex education must be an academic subject that should be rigorous and challenging and relevant for all children and young people
· Relationships and sex education should contribute to Government goals in public health and education in a cost-effective way.
Evidence shows that current provision of relationships and sex education is not meeting the needs of children and young people. A Brook survey of over 2,000 14-18 year olds, released in October 2011, found that almost half (47 per cent) said relationships and sex education doesn’t cover what they feel they needed to know about sex. We are preparing this submission during a time when there is an increased focus on relationships and sex education, particularly around resources used in primary schools for relationships and sex education. We urge the Government to take this opportunity to clearly state that relationships and sex education is an entitlement for all children and young people in the country and that it should be a normal part of the school curriculum developed in partnership with parents, children and young people, and schools.
We are disappointed that the PSHE education Review document ruled out any changes to legislation on ‘sex education’ or the parental right to withdraw their child from non-statutory relationships and sex education. We were also disappointed to see that ‘sex education’ was excluded from consideration of elements of PSHE education that could be made statutory in the basic curriculum.
The current framework for ‘sex and relationships education’ is:
· The sex education elements of the National Curriculum Science Order are mandatory for all pupils of primary and secondary school age. These elements cover anatomy, puberty, biological aspects of sexual reproduction and the use of hormones to control and promote fertility.
· Secondary schools are required to provide a sex and relationships education programme which includes, as a minimum, information about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV and AIDS.
· Other elements of personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, which includes relationships and sex education, are non-statutory.
· Parents have the right to withdraw their child from all or part of sex and relationships education provided outside National Curriculum Science.
The PSHE education Review document states that, “secondary schools must provide sex education, having regard to guidance from the Secretary of State. The Government does not intend to change this legislation or parents' right of withdrawal.” While this statement is correct it does not acknowledge that the only statutory part of ‘sex education’ is teaching about the biological aspects of sex and STIs (including HIV and AIDS) in secondary schools. The broader relationships and sex education programme is currently non-statutory, and schools only have to have regard for the guidance if they decide to deliver relationships and sex education beyond the statutory requirements.
Furthermore, even though it is statutory, we know from evidence that children and young people do not always receive information on HIV and AIDS in their sex education lessons; a recent survey by the Sex Education Forum found a quarter of young people did not learn about HIV and AIDS at school.[2]
Currently parents can withdraw their child from relationships and sex education classes that are provided outside of the National Curriculum Science classes. What this actually means is that all children will learn about the biological aspects of sex and reproduction but can be taken out of the non-statutory relationships aspect of relationships and sex education, which we know young people want to learn more about. This situation needs to change as it is not in the best interests of children and young people in this country.
This year marks the 20th Anniversary of the UK ratifying the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and we welcome the Government’s commitment to its implementation as stated by the Minister for Children and Families in December 2010, “this Government are a proud signatory of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), are committed to its implementation, and believe it is vital that children and young people have a strong, independent advocate to champion their interests and views and promote their rights.”[3]
Children and young people’s right to education, information and health services is enshrined in the UNCRC. Our understanding, with regard to the parental right to withdraw, is that any court determining the question of the interaction of the parent’s right and the child’s right would be required to put the child’s rights first, as the child has a right to receive ideas, unless there is a lawful and reason for restricting that right, in order to protect some other legitimate aim.
We believe that the current right to withdraw a child from relationships and sex education, which amounts to a parental right to veto the child’s right to receive that education, is incompatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Given the above commitment from government we are disappointed that the PSHE education Review document rules out changes to legislation on parents’ right to withdraw their children from relationships and sex education lessons. Given that young people consistently tell us that current relationships and sex education is too little, too late and too biological we think it is vital that the Government take this opportunity to listen to young people and consider removing all barriers to provision of high quality relationships and sex education. We ask therefore for the Government to reconsider their position on the parental right of withdrawal and take into account the rights of children and young people in receiving information on their health, wellbeing and safety.
Question 1What do you consider the core outcomes PSHE education should achieve and what areas of basic core knowledge and awareness should pupils be expected to acquire at school through PSHE education?
FPA and Brook believe that children and young people should be expected to acquire core knowledge and awareness in relationships and sex education, as part of a comprehensive PSHE education programme. We also believe they should be expected to develop the skills, positive beliefs and values they need to act on this knowledge and awareness.
We believe that high quality and effective relationships and sex education should achieve a balance between acquisition, exploration and developments of:
Attitudes – appreciation of difference, tolerance, openness about sex, awareness of the range of religious and secular perspectives about sex, gender, sexuality and sexual health.
Skills – negotiation, communication, assertiveness, care for self and others, managing emotions and relationships, problem-solving skills, decision-making skills.
Knowledge – puberty, the biological aspects of sex, legal rights with regard to sex and accessing services, fertility and reproduction, contraception, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), information on pregnancy choices and information about sexual orientation and sexuality.
Relationships and sex education should be appropriate to the age and maturity of children and start by teaching primary age children about friendships, feelings, keeping safe, boundaries and preparing them for puberty. In secondary school it should build on this foundation and teach young people about relationships, the biological aspects of sex and the links with alcohol and personal safety.
It is the role of Government to set out clear core expectations for relationships and sex education which would leave local schools the freedom to decide how to deliver this entitlement and how to engage children, young people, teachers and parents in those decisions. We understand the core outcomes for relationships and sex education to be:
· All children and young people being taught about the law around sex and their rights in accessing services and information.
· All children and young people being given information on relationships and sex that is accurate, evidence-based and non-judgemental.
· All children and young people being taught about keeping safe and learning who to ask for help.
· All children and young people being taught about their body, puberty and growing up.
· All children and young people learning about how to stay healthy with regard to sexual health (including information about contraception and STIs, pregnancy choices and where to access services).
· All children and young people taught about religious and secular perspectives on aspects of sex, sexuality and sexual health.
· All children and young people being given the skills and confidence they need to enjoy healthy friendships and personal relationships (this would include talking about friendships, keeping safe, developing communication and negotiation skills and discussing sexual consent).
Question 2Have you got any evidence that demonstrates why a) existing elements and b) new elements should be part of the PSHE education curriculum?
Your answer should provide a summary of the evidence and where
appropriate contain the title, author and publication date of research.
FPA and Brook believe that relationships and sex education should stay as part of the wider PSHE education curriculum as it would enable relationships and sex education to be delivered holistically as part of a wider health, wellbeing and safety curriculum, and help children and young people understand the links between sexual health and risk factors such as alcohol.
There is consistent evidence that current provision of relationships and sex education is patchy and not meeting young people’s needs. We welcome the Minister for Children and Families recent recognition of the importance of high quality relationships and sex education, “we believe that it is vital that all children receive high-quality sex and relationships education (SRE), to ensure that they have the knowledge and skills they need to make the right decisions about relationships and sexual health later in life[4].”
The House of Lords Select Committee on HIV and AIDS in the UK recently published the report of their inquiry. The report recommended that, “whilst acknowledging that the [Internal PSHE education] review is yet to complete its work, we recommend that the provision of SRE should be a mandatory requirement within the National Curriculum, to enable access for all. Such education should begin within all schools from Key Stage 1, though this teaching must be age-appropriate[5].”
Brook Sex:Positive campaign demanding sex and relationships education for the 21st Century
In October 2011 Brook released a study of over 2,000 14-18 year olds, which illustrated the impact on young people that the country’s lack of commitment to good relationships and sex education, out of date guidelines for schools and a lack of support for well qualified teachers is having. See below for the key findings of the survey:
· Almost half (47%) of today’s secondary school pupils say relationships and sex education doesn’t cover what they really need to know about sex
· The sex information void is being filled by friends their own age (36%), their boyfriend / girlfriend (10%), TV programmes (8%) and online porn (5%) – none of which are reliable sources of honest, accurate or useful information.
· Only 13% of 14-18 year olds learn most about sex from their relationships and sex education teacher, and just 5% from Mum and 1% from dad at home.
· 82% of young people say schools should listen to young people when shaping relationships and sex education however 78% of young people confirm they have never been consulted on relationships and sex education.