Sex Education

[Noraise]

Is Sex Education in primary school ( Y5) mandatory?
Can anyone please advise me if it is? School is an academy by the way.

Relationships and Puberty relationships education is mandatory, but sex education in primary schools is not mandatory. It's unusual to be earlier than Y6 though. Are you sure it's sex ed and not puberty?

https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2023/03/10/what-do-children-and-young-people-learn-in-relationship-sex-and-health-education/

They will give you notice when studying and the option to opt out if you want. But remember the kids who take the lesson will talk about it

Why don't you want your child to learn about what is going to happen to their body?

I’ve got no issue whatsoever with puberty, relationships etc and I know that’s mandatory .
Sex education and the depth they want to do is too much. Just my opinion and I don’t think my child needs to know that level of detail yet. I just don’t . And I realise it is a contentious topic on here because lots of people disagree with me.

You can opt out of sex education. However, they are teaching your child basic facts of life in an age appropriate way. Things I seriously hope you would be discussing with them at home anyway by that age.

Better they hear the facts, than the playground rumours.

You are entitled to enquire about the syllabus but they won't be teaching them anything they are 'too young for'.

Withdrawing them draws attention to them and will only help to peak their curiosity. Do you intend to subsidise this yourself? Because if you don't, they'll only hear it from their friends anyway.

Your child is growing up. Knowledge is power when it comes to these things.

YANBU OP. I agree with you. It depends on the child. My DS was 8 and came home from school disgusted and cross, saying it was gross. 😀

When I spoke to his class teacher, she said he'd stuck his fingers in his ears, stared out of the window and hummed loudly until she'd let him go out of the room. He did the same in years 5 and 6.

He's just finished his GCSEs and is a completely normal teen so hasn't turned out prudish. he just wasn't ready to hear about it at 8.

YABU.

Children need this information. It keeps them safe.

in an age appropriate way

That is just a tick-box phrase in practice. How does anyone know what is appropriate for a given individual? Children of the same age may be very different.

Adults’ decisions about what is right for children may or may not be right depending on the adult deciding. Aren’t these lessons outsourced to different providers?

I really agree with the comment about being aware of what they might pick up in the playground. In year 6 my DD asked me what a blow job was because she had heard the boys talking about it.

Before you decide to remove him, find out what they will be teaching and have a look at the resources yourself. In year 5 they won't be teaching anything but the basic PIV, sperm meets egg, baby grows, come out of vagina. Which I'd hope you wouldn't find too contentious.

No they are not. Any school still doing that would be taking huge risks. Lessons are taught be teachers.

op the curriculum will be on the school website. Find out what lesson you want him removed from first.

Fully understand you have a right to decide, I would respectfully ask you to
consider the fact that the children will be discussing this in school after the lessons.

Your child may not get the full story and what is worse they will be getting it through the filter of a child.

Tbh, I say age appropriate in that they're hardly going to be teaching them about sex positions, orgasms, sex toys or pornography!

The biological aspects of how a baby is made and born are definitely age appropriate for Year 5+, no matter how mature or immature the individual. It's basic facts of life that children should know by then. If not taught in school, it should be coming from home (ideally it would come from home before it's covered in school). Do we really want children still believing the stork delivers babies when they head off to secondary school? Why as a nation are we so keen to sugar coat facts of life?

Sex education has strong links to safeguarding. Knowledge is power. If children know these basic facts and are taught body autonomy, they'll be more able to protect themselves.

The biological part usually comes under science lessons which I believe you can't remove your child from.
It is very much the basic facts at that age about how a baby is made (including periods).
Girls are sometimes given extra sessions about periods so if your child is a girl she will need to know about them soon.

Biology lessons are probably absolutely fine.

The trouble can be in Relationships and Sex Education,
this article has examples of this,
www.spiked-online.com/2023/06/19/how-parents-are-kept-in-the-dark-about-sex-education/

I meant the teaching materials coming from outside providers.

Sex ed is not mandatory and I wouldn't trust strangers to reach my children about such an important topic. RSE is mandatory unfortunately but there are ways around it ...

Research shows sex in school links to safeguarding. Sadly people who abuse children keep information from them.

Children talk, keeping them ignorant of sex means they very likely will get part of the story and often the wrong end of the stick.

Throw in parents not talking and unintentionally children will feel they can not ask parents.

I appreciate many parents have concerns but I would always encourage parents speak to the school review the resources.

You know more than teachers?

Periods are puberty so health. You cannot withdraw from health

From this article you're frothing about, what did you have the issue with? Keeping in mind gender ideology is almost out of the door.

Classes in secondary schools now have to cover topics such as ‘consent, sexual exploitation, online abuse, grooming, coercion, harassment, rape, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based violence and FGM’. In addition, schools teach children about gender identity and same-sex relationships.

because if a parent contacted me wanting to withdraw from any if these, consent, sexual exploitation, online abuse, grooming, coercion, harassment, rape, domestic abuse, forced marriage, honour-based violence and FGM, i would be referring immediately to safeguarding.

Frothing?

I like your list and agree all those subjects are important. The devil is in the detail and what else is added.

There have been a number of concerns over certain RSE lessons over recent years
and also concerns that parents have not been able to see the teaching materials.

There is no single standard about what is taught and it varies.

There have been quite a few threads on the teaching of RSE.

Have you requested to see the materials that will be used?
We were invited to go into school to watch/see the materials to be used and to discuss the school's approach.

You should also accept that, even if you withdraw your own child from the specific lessons, the others are likely to talk about and discuss it afterwards. Your child may feel 'left out' or pick up on half truths/facts and misinformation as a result. Will you be happy to fill in the gaps and ensure they are informed if you don't want school to do it?

Girls are sometimes given extra sessions about periods so if your child is a girl she will need to know about them soon.

Boys and girls get the same information these days, or should do. It's unusual for schools to separate for these talks ime.

@Longma at my daughter's primary they gave the girls an extra session that was more about what to do if they needed a sanitary towel unexpectedly (ie "The office will have a supply or talk to Miss X") and how to dispose of the towels ("This is a sanitary bin").
The boys didn't need to know that bit.
The factual and biology part they did learn together.
(Apparently there was once a special boys session which was basically them being lectured on how to aim properly in the toilets. The girls didn't need to attend that session 😂)