100 organisations ask Labour to abandon Tory revised guidelines on RSHE

What's strange is that the 2nd largest group of signatories is women's groups in the VAWG sector.

And even allowing that some are genuinely well qualified to work with and provide support to women who have suffered male violence, not sure how qualified they are to comment on this.

They may have accummulated anecdotal information about how what is happening in schools, but they aren't experts in education.

Added to which I haven't seen any of these groups for instance ever having asked for feedback from service users about what is or is not taught in RSHE being part of the problem of male violence, rather than what is happening in pupils homes and community.

I suppose part of me is worried that they have signed this as much to show support for the teaching of gender identity!

• The End Violence Against Women Coalition
• Refuge
• Women’s Aid Federation of England (Women’s Aid)
• Rape Crisis England & Wales
• Everyone’s Invited
• Action Breaks Silence
• Advance
• Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid
• Bold Voices
• Beyond Equality
• FORWARD
• Imkaan
• IKWRO – Women’s Rights Organisation
• IRISi
• Jewish Women’s Aid
• Juno Women’s Aid
• Kindling Transformative Interventions
• Latin American Women’s Aid
• Latin American Women’s Rights Service (LAWRS)
• LMK Let Me Know
• Middle Eastern Women and Society Organisation (MEWSO)
• Our Streets Now
• Rights of Women
• Solace Women’s Aid
• Surviving Economic Abuse
• Survivors Of Abuse
• Tender
• This Ends Now
• Violence Against Women and Girls Research Network
• Woman’s Trust
• Women’s Budget Group
• Roj Women’s Association
• White ribbon UK
• Agenda Alliance
• Standing Together
• Respect
• Savana

Not sure if you thought my comments were aimed at you but they weren't. Just generally often because I too am new / uninformed on a topic and worry they my pulling out paragraphs from a longer article may distort what is being reported.

This is how Schools Weekly summarised the Tory proposals

1. Age limits on ‘sensitive’ topics

The DfE said it was introducing age limits on certain topics “to ensure that, as content is presented to prepare young people to stay safe and keep others safe, children are not introduced too early to concepts that they may not have the maturity to grasp, or which may be distressing”.

Here’s the full list…

Not before year 3

• The risks relating to online gaming, video game monetisation, scams, fraud and other financial harms, and that gaming can become addictive
• Why social media, some apps, computer games and online gaming, including gambling sites, are age restricted

• Growth, change and the changing adolescent body. This topic should include the human lifecycle
• Puberty should be mentioned as a stage in this process, including the key facts about the menstrual cycle, including physical and emotional changes

• Sex education topics taught in primary, which should be in line with what pupils learn about conception and birth as part of the national curriculum for science

• What constitutes harmful sexual behaviour, including sexual harassment and the concepts and laws relating to it, including revenge porn, upskirting and taking intimate sexual photos without consent, public sexual harassment, and unsolicited sexual language / attention / touching
• The concepts and laws relating to sexual exploitation and abuse, grooming, stalking, and forced marriage
• Circulating images and information and how to safely report to trusted adults the non-consensual creation or distribution of an intimate image
• The risks of inappropriate online content, including pornographic content, without discussing the details of sexual acts

• Discussing the details of sexually explicit materials, in the context of learning about the risks of inappropriate online content, including pornographic content
• Discussing the explicit details of violent abuse, including the detail of topics such as rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation (FGM), virginity testing and hymenoplasty
• Discussing the explicit details of violent abuse when discussing the concepts and laws relating to domestic abuse including coercive control, emotional, sexual, economic or physical abuse, and violent or threatening behaviour
• Explicit discussion of the details of sexual acts, in the context of teaching about intimate and sexual relationships, including in relation to contraception and STIs

2. Primary sex ed should draw on science

The consultation states that where primary schools teach sex education, its “purpose is not to prepare pupils for sexual activity in later life, but to focus on giving pupils the information they need to understand human reproduction and for their own safety”.
The guidance “continues to recommend that primary schools have a sex education programme, but restricts this to no earlier than years 5 or 6”.

It is also “clear that if a primary school teaches sex education, it should draw on the knowledge pupils are developing about the human life cycle, as set out in the national curriculum for science”.

3. Schools have some ‘flexibility’

Despite the large number of age restrictions, the DfE said it had still allowed schools a “degree of flexibility”.

This will allow schools to “respond promptly to issues which pose an imminent safeguarding risk to their pupils”.

“This means that in certain circumstances, schools may decide to teach age-limited topics earlier, provided it is necessary to do so in order to safeguard pupils and provided that teaching is limited to the essential facts, without going into unnecessary details.”

For example, if a primary school finds out pupils are sharing porn, it would be allowed to “address this appropriately with younger pupils without going into details of the sexual acts viewed”.

4. ‘Do not teach about gender identity’

The guidance states that pupils should be “taught the law” about gender re-assignment, and “be clear” that individuals must be 18 “before they can legally reassign their gender”.
Schools “should not teach about the broader concept of gender identity”, which the DfE said was “a highly contested and complex subject”.

The guidance described gender identity as “a sense a person may have of their own gender, whether male, female or a number of other categories”.

“This may or may not be the same as their biological sex. Many people do not consider that they or others have a separate gender identity.”

5. ‘Teach the facts about biological sex’

If asked about the topic of gender identity, schools should “teach the facts about biological sex and not use any materials that present contested views as fact, including the view that gender is a spectrum”.

Material suggesting that someone’s gender is determined by their interests or clothing choices “should not be used as it risks leading pupils who do not comply with sex stereotypes to question their gender when they might not have done so otherwise”.

Where schools decide to use external resources, “they should avoid materials that use cartoons or diagrams that oversimplify this complex concept or that could be interpreted as being aimed at younger children”.

Schools should also “consult parents on the content of external resources on this topic in advance and make all materials available to them on request”.

6. Share materials with parents

The consultation states that the draft guidance is “clear” there is a “strong public interest in parents being able to see all materials used to teach RSHE, if they would like to”.

Schools “should not agree to contractual restrictions which prevent this”, and existing clauses are “void”, given the “public interest” in parents being able to see material.

But schools must comply with copyright law when sharing materials. It is “best practice to share materials via a ‘parent portal’ or, if this is not possible, through a presentation”.

7. New content on sexual harassment…

The government has added a new section to the guidance on “addressing prejudice, harassment and sexual violence and harmful sexual behaviours”.

This is in light of evidence of the “prevalence of sexual harassment in some schools”.

New content addresses “harmful behaviours that pupils may be exposed to, including online, which may normalise harmful or violent sexual behaviours – for example, by giving pupils the opportunity to identify positive male role models”.

There is also new content about sexual harassment and sexual violence, including about fixated and obsessive behaviours, such as stalking.

8. …and on suicide prevention

The government has also added a section on suicide prevention, which explains that “in teaching about mental health and wellbeing within the RSHE curriculum, schools may wish to talk to young people about the prevention of suicide, including how to identify warning signs and where and how to seek help”.

“The guidance says that if addressing suicide directly, teaching should focus on equipping pupils to recognise when they, or someone they know, needs support and where they can seek help if they have concerns.”

Given the sensitivity and complexity of content on suicide prevention, “direct references to suicide should not be made before year 8”.

9. A ‘number of additional’ topics

The DfE has also added a number of “additional” topics that schools will have to teach about in the RSHE curriculum. These include..,

• Loneliness
• New content on gambling
• Prevalence of ‘deepfakes’
• Antimicrobial resistance
• Healthy behaviours during pregnancy
• Illegal online behaviours including drug and knife supply
• Personal safety, including road, railway and water safety
• Vaping,
• Menstrual and gynaecological health including endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), heavy menstrual bleeding
• Parenting and early years brain development
• Virginity testing and hymenoplasty
• Bereavement

I'm going to sound a bit peevish in saying this, but if there is a link in an OP saying full or more information, it is probably worth following the link to know all the details. So just a reminder this is the full statement made by the groups:

The full statement

Relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) helps to protect children and young people from harm, keep them healthy and prepare them for life’s challenges and opportunities.

The current statutory guidance for RSHE in England – in force since 2020 – is based on robust evidence, informed by a rigorous engagement process and a twelve-week consultation.

It had support and input from safeguarding bodies, national children’s charities, specialist violence against women and girls organisations, faith and belief groups, parents and carers, teachers, teaching and leadership unions and young people, and votes of support from 538 MPs from across the political spectrum.

The current guidance provides the foundation on which schools have improved teaching of high quality, age-appropriate RSHE since 2020, despite Covid disruption.

Any review of RSHE must build on this progress and focus on responding to the needs and experiences of those the guidance will support: children and young people, teachers and schools.

‘Falls short’

We are concerned that the draft new RSHE guidance out for consultation until 11 July falls short of what is required to help keep children safe, healthy and prepared for modern life.

Age restrictions and topic bans pose a threat to the preventative role of RSHE, limiting the prevention of harm in relation to issues including sexual health, violence against women and girls (VAWG), mental health, safeguarding from sexual abuse, inclusion and tackling current and emerging threats like online misogyny.

The limited scope and structure of the review, and reduced eight-week consultation, is also problematic, as is the general election falling during this consultation period (thereby removing the opportunity for planned Department for Education stakeholder engagement).

A fresh start and a new review is needed. We are calling on the next government to discard the draft guidance and begin this process in due course, focusing on the needs of children and young people and supporting teachers to deliver a high-quality, inclusive curriculum.

‘Future updates to RSHE must be…’

Evidence based: using the best available evidence of what works in preventative education and the needs and experiences of all children and young people, so that it is effective, relevant, up-to-date and age and developmentally-appropriate.

Transparent: any evidence and recommendations that inform new proposals should be published, as should any evaluations of RSHE under current guidance.

Representative: there should be ongoing engagement with a wide range of stakeholders, including parents and carers, children and young people, teachers and teaching and leadership unions, national safeguarding bodies, children’s charities and specialist VAWG organisations, academics and experts.