Welsh government consultation on RSE closes 16th July

I'm leaving nothing to chance it's too important! I pressed the send button myself (in a kind, helpful way of course!)

Glad to be useful StillaMum. And well done Mr S (assuming he'll actually manage to press the send button by himself!). Love their cotton socks...

I think Merched Cymru's post re this is over on Feminist chat...

I sent my response in yesterday. I think i stayed this side of ranting - just. I've nagged my sister (very cross grandmother), and I'm cutting and pasting the info from @Olderbadger1's post above and putting it in section 10 for Mr S to send off this evening. Still over 5 hours to go!!

This consultation, the obscure questions, and the glossary etc is so shite! Meanwhile girls in welsh schools are being targeted and harassed, makes you wonder what their priorities are.

I'm cheered by the positive responses above - good show!

Last day today ladies and gents

The lovely lot at Womens' Human Rights Campaign have just posted up their consultation respnse... if you are on here WHRC, have a bunch of

Just noticed a weird error on item 3 from the Merched Cymru list. Here's the correct version...

And a reminder that you don't need to be in Wales to respond.

I wholeheartedly endorse Merched Cymru's call for:

1. High quality, age appropriate, scientifically accurate information for all children and young people to enable them to fulfill their potential, and live and love safely and healthily whatever their background or protected characteristics.
2. An end to the conflation of the terms sex and gender, the appropriation of inaccurate terminology, and to the confusion of objective facts with the subjective beliefs some people find helpful when coping with their everyday lives and making sense of their feelings.
3. Provision to address the impact of biological sex, sexism and stereotyping on boys and girls, along with a focus on addressing the additional barriers, harassment, discrimination and risk of harm experienced by girls and young women because they are female.
4. Clear guidance for schools and youth groups - as already provided by the DfE in England - to enable them to judge what is and isn't appropriate for inclusion in the lessons to deliver the RSE curriculum.
5. A central list of approved resources and organisations which comply with the Guidance and Code. This should be held at either a Wales-wide or local authority level to ensure that materials, lesson plans, partner organisations and trainers have been vetted and DBS checked in line with safeguarding best practice.

Great points foodfiend - might just go and nudge another friend (ex-teacher) to point out the potential for confusion and conflict.

Can't believe that our government is so wall-eyed on this subject (well I sort-of can since they have been entirely consistent in that regard).

Most likely. Yes.

Oh now I know what that argument in the playground was about, and why the teacher kept saying but it's compulsory next year, and the parent kept shouting well they won't be in on those days 😳

English, Scottish and Northern Ireland MNetters.

You don't need to be in Wales to respond by the way.

I'm in the process of doing it for the second time (for a group), and I cannot wait till I've got it in.
DH, despite my nagging hasn't done it yet, so I might well suggest he does the hack that you've suggested @olderbadger1, thank you!

Thanks Older, I just did mine but having seen your points list I will ask family members to submit using those.

Bloody shocking stuff, thank god for Safe Schools Alliance!

Just done mine and helped 3 family members to get off their bottoms and complete it. If this goes through our kids are at serious risk.

You don't need to be in Wales to respond by the way. MC are suggesting that if you are really up against it for time, just complete Q10 (free text box).

And if you are really really up against it, just copy and paste their 5 demands:
I wholeheartedly endorse Merched Cymru's call for:

1. High quality, age appropriate, scientifically accurate information for all children and young people to enable them to fulfill their potential, and live and love safely and healthily whatever their background or protected characteristics.
2. An end to the conflation of the terms sex and gender, the appropriation of inaccurate terminology, and to the confusion of objective facts with the subjective beliefs some people find helpful when coping with their everyday lives and making sense of their feelings.
3. Provision to address the impact of biological sex, sexism and stereotyping on boys and girls, along with a focus on addressing the additional barriers, harassment, discrimination and risk of harm experienced by girls and young women because they are female. For older children this.
4. Clear guidance for schools and youth groups - as already provided by the DfE in England - to enable them to judge what is and isn't appropriate for inclusion in the lessons to deliver the RSE curriculum.
5. A central list of approved resources and organisations which comply with the Guidance and Code. This should be held at either a Wales-wide or local authority level to ensure that materials, lesson plans, partner organisations and trainers have been vetted and DBS checked in line with safeguarding best practice.

Diolch!

@ValancyRedfern I asked dds school and was referred to the website 'where you can find all our policies' and told that the RSE policy would be reviewed in the light of the new guidance under development. Which is how I found out about the consultation.

The proposed guidance will only give parents the right to see the policies, not any actual content, so the kind of non-answer above will be all we're entitled to ask for, unfortunately. Again, the guidance is leading schools right into conflict with parents, as I for one won't be happy to be fobbed off this way. If schools are going to be using resources that go so far beyond the factual I'd really like to know what they are.

Dds recent lesson sounded like it was full of some very odd stuff, but it was very hard to get a sense of it as she was evasive. She knew she didn't really understand it and couldn't really explain or defend it, so got quite upset when we asked questions. (Honestly, just questions about what the lesson had covered, nothing hostile!) It did appear to include some kind of coloured-flag gender identity menu... She seemed very well informed about what flag related to what.

I've also emailed my constituency MS. Will try and get to the regional ones tonight.

I'm enjoying all the

Thanks. Will do this tonight.

Will do this tonight.

On the subject of asking about resources. I contacted dd's school back in March, chased last week. Still no response. Short of camping out outside the school until they talk to me I'm not sure what to do.

Bump! Not long to go.

I made the mistake of assuming what they had been taught.

Highly selective school.

Big mistake.

Every parent: Ask! BEFORE they are given the lesson.

I really wonder how schools are navigating this at the moment. After dd's last RSE lesson, we had a conversation where I was struggling to tell whether she still knew which of two transgender people who had sex was the one who might get pregnant. I mean, I'm sure she does know, but she also now knows that she's not allowed to admit that she knows. Leaving teenagers without a vocabulary for the people who might risk pregnancy when they have sex (the group formerly known as female) seems like a pretty appalling outcome of an RSE lesson.

I'm also pretty sure she'd have condemned a human biology lesson which labelled male and female genitalia as transphobic as well. Not sure how teachers are navigating that.