Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and Health Education — House of Lords, 2019-02-25
Topic: Education
Theodore Agnew (Conservative, Centre-right): My Lords, with the leave of the House I will repeat a Statement made in the other place earlier today by my right honourable friend the Secretary of State for Education. The Statement is as follows: "With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a Statement to update the House on the Government’s proposals for the draft regulations and guidance for relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education, following public consultation. It is 19 years since the sex and relationships guidance was last updated. The world that our children and young people face today is very different; how they build relationships, interact with their peers and manage their own mental and physical well-being has changed significantly. Along with all the positives of modern technology and new media come great risks, as children and young people are exposed to information, content and people that could and do cause harm. There is little distinction for many young people between their online and offline lives. That why I believe that, now more than ever, we need to provide young people with the knowledge they need in every context to lead safe, happy and healthy lives During the passage of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, with strong cross-party support, the Government brought about the introduction of compulsory relationships education for all pupils in primary schools and compulsory relationships and sex education for all pupils in secondary schools. In July I announced that in addition to this I would be making health education compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools. Thanks and appreciation are due in particular to my right honourable friend for Putney for her leadership through these historic steps, my right honourable friend for Basingstoke and many others across the House, including the honourable Member for Rotherham. My sincere thanks also go to all the external groups and bodies that have contributed to this process, to the tens of thousands who contributed in the call for evidence and consultation and, particularly, to our education adviser, Ian Bauckham CBE. Today we have laid the regulations that, following debate, will finalise this process, as well as publishing the accompanying statutory guidance for schools It is clear—this was reflected in the consultation responses—that there are understandable and legitimate areas of contention. In reviewing responses and determining the final content of regulations and guidance, we have retained a focus on the core principles for the new subjects that Parliament endorsed through the Children and Social Work Act. Our guiding principles have been that these compulsory subjects should help to keep children safe; help to prepare them for the world in which they are growing up, including its laws that relate to relationships, sex and health; and to help to foster respect for others and for difference. Content must be age-appropriate and developmentally appropriate and taught in a sensitive and inclusive way, respecting the backgrounds and beliefs of pupils. Parents and carers are of course the prime teachers for children on many of these matters, and schools complement and reinforce this role by building on what pupils learn at home. We have retained the long-standing ability of parents to request that their child be withdrawn from the sex education element of RSE. The school should respect the parents’ request to withdraw the child, except in exceptional circumstances, up to and until three terms before the child reaches the age of 16. At that point, if the child wishes to take part in sex education lessons, the head teacher should ensure that they receive it in one of those terms. In response to the consultation, we have further clarified in the guidance how and when a pupil’s special educational needs may be taken into consideration, and that head teachers should document their decision-making process on the right to withdraw We believe that after reviewing the consultation responses we have struck a balance between prescribing clearly the important core knowledge that all pupils should be taught while allowing flexibility for schools to design a curriculum that is relevant to their pupils. We made a small number of changes that we felt were important and would further strengthen the intent of the guidance. For example, we have made changes to the content on puberty to reflect that menstruation and menstrual well-being should be taught in all primary and secondary schools. Given the lack of distinction that young people see between online and offline contexts, we have expanded teaching about internet safety and harms to include content on the potential risks of excessive screen time and how to be a discerning and discriminating consumer of information and other content online. We have included teaching about rape, female genital mutilation and forced marriage in secondary RSE, and we have amended the content on organ and blood donation to include the science relating to stem-cell donation We are committed to ensuring that every school will have the support that it needs to deliver these subjects to a high and consistent quality by September 2020. We will be investing in tools that will improve schools’ practice, such as a supplementary guide to support the delivery of the guidance, targeted support on materials, and training. For the financial year about to begin, we have allocated up to £6 million to invest in the development of these tools. We will continue to encourage as many schools as possible to start teaching these subjects from September 2019, partly so that we can learn lessons and share good practice about how these subjects are being taught before the full mandatory rollout These new subjects will put in place the building blocks needed for healthy, positive, respectful and safe relationships of all kinds, starting with family and friends and moving out to other kinds of relationships, including those online. Young people will know what makes a good friend, a good colleague and a successful marriage, and what is acceptable and unacceptable behaviour in relationships. They will understand the positive effects that good relationships can have on their mental well-being. Alongside CPR and first aid, there will be now be mandatory teaching on mental health and well-being, as a foundation for our wider transformation programme on support services for children and young people’s mental health. We believe that these proposals are an historic step in education that will help to equip children and young people with the knowledge and support that they need to form healthy relationships, lead healthy lives and be happy and safe in the world today. I commend this Statement to the House".