Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education (RSHE) Information
From September 2020, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) will become statutory in all secondary schools in England. As part of our work to ensure that we are meeting this requirement, we would like to give you some information about what exactly we are expected to deliver to our pupils. We are thankful to our stakeholders that took the opportunity to take part in the consultation process and we are currently reviewing your responses.
In preparation for statutory changes to the curriculum of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) in September 2020, we have drafted a new policy, please see below.
The legislation makes it clear that all schools should approach RSE in a faith sensitive and inclusive way, seeking to explain fairly the tenets and varying interpretations of religious communities on matters of sex and relationships and teach these viewpoints with respect. The deadline for consultation was the 15 July, we are now currently reviewing the parent and student responses and we will provide all stakeholders with a summary of results and any changes to the policy that are made. We will use your feedback to inform our way forward, ready to start the new academic year in September 2020.
We understand our very diverse community here at NGA and want our RSHE to represent a range of faith perspectives. We are using the document ‘Faith and Relationships’ produced by Nottingham City Council and the Nottingham Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) to support teachers to share a range of faith views on different topics in addition to the law. ‘Faith and Relationships’ was created by representatives from local faith groups, including from the Karimia Institute, Hinduism Education Services and Nottingham Sevadaar (click here).
What is changing?
From 2020, the following subjects will become compulsory in applicable schools in England:
- Relationship and Sex Education in secondary schools
- Health Education in state funded secondary schools
These subjects will support all young people to be happy, healthy and safe, equipping them for life as an adult in British society.
Some parts of the new curriculum, as with the current curriculum, are compulsory. These are part of the national curriculum for science.
This is set out in the Department for Education's (DfE) guidance, which will replace the current SRE guidance.
Why is it changing?
The DfE included in their Impact Assessment report on RSE (2019) that incorporating RSE as part of the compulsory curriculum has a great number of benefits for the students.
On the one hand, young people will have more information available to them, which will enable them to make informed choices. The new changes will mean that young people will be able to access an RSE provision that is “planned, age-appropriate and developmental” (DfE, 2019) regardless of the school they attend.
There is evidence in research that suggests that Relationships and Sex Education can help students make informed decisions to keep themselves safe when it comes to recognising sexual abuse or using contraception and it can potentially result in delaying the age of first intercourse (DfE, 2019).
You can see this evidence on the following graph created by the Sex Education Forum which analyses the results of the latest Natsal survey:
For more information on this, you can visit:
https://www.sexeducationforum.org.uk/sites/default/files/field/attachment/SRE%20-%20the%20evidence%20-%20March%202015.pdf
Changes to the right to withdraw:
Parents/carers will have the right to withdraw their child from part or all of the sex education delivered as part of RSE. When the new requirements come into place, parents/carers can do this until 3 terms before their child turns 16. After that, it will be the child's decision. Currently, the SRE guidance does not set any age limit for withdrawing a child from sex education.
Parents cannot withdraw their child from the Relationships or Health education part of RSHE nor from the sex education elements of the Science curriculum.
If a pupil is withdrawn, it will be the Academy’s responsibility to ensure they receive appropriate, purposeful education during the withdrawal period.
Below there is an opportunity to read our PSHE Policy (with the changes to RSHE in) and a link to the Withdrawal Form.
PSHE Revised Policy
Withdrawal Form
To know more:
To read more about the Government’s expectations on this matter, please click the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812594/RSE_secondary_schools_guide_for_parents.pdf
Finally, if you want to have access to the Government’s guide on Relationships (and sex) education and health education (updated statutory guidance and consultation outcomes), DfE, February 2019 please click the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education
Frequently asked questions:
Throughout the Government’s engagement and development process of this new RSE curriculum, a number of wide-ranging concerns have been heard. To support you with understanding this change in your child’s education, you can access some of the frequently asked questions that help address misconceptions on this matter on the webpages below:
https://www.sexeducationforum.org.uk/resources/frequently-asked-questions
We want to take this opportunity to thank you for your contribution. We are going to continue to reach out to parents. Therefore, if you would like to be a part of reviewing our RSHE curriculum further and developing it throughout the year, then please share your interest and email Mrs Turner-Ramadan on rturner-ramadan@nottinghamgirlsacademy.org