The UK’s Department for Education released a Draft Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education Guidance on 16 May, open for consultation until July 11.
Please be reminded that as this is draft guidance, schools and providers should continue to work within the framework provided by existing statutory guidance.
Spectra is committed to empowering young people to make safe, well-informed decisions about their bodies and relationships. As such, we are disappointed with the restrictions proposed in this guidance. All young people, including trans and other marginalised young people, deserve information and support.
It is our view that the draft guidance principles are not evidence-based, but by restricting school staff and external experts, creates unsafe environments for young people to ask questions, explore and learn. Limiting young people’s access to comprehensive RSHE information is critically detrimental to their healthy development, socialisation and safeguarding.
Evidence shows that early and open RSHE conversations act as harm reduction and prevention, helping young people to make healthier and safer decisions throughout their lives; it does not encourage harmful behaviours, but decreases them. Perhaps most importantly, young people themselves have consistently been shown to want more frequent, more in-depth and earlier RSHE in order to feel equipped to safely navigate relationships, their reproductive and sexual health and overall wellbeing.
The suggested guidance to prevent schools from teaching about gender identity will only endanger trans and gender nonconforming young people, who are already vulnerable to bullying and gender-based violence. Critically, gender identity is not a “contested topic,” but is a well-studied concept across various disciplines and, within the UK, healthcare for trans and gender nonconforming individuals received support from clinicians in the British Medical Association and the British Psychological Society.
Spectra continues to provide supportive, accessible, and evidence-based content that is age-appropriate. As experts and experienced professionals, we will continue to provide RSE in line with the 2019 guidance.
Spectra will respond formally to the consultation with detailed commentary and advice and encourage individuals and agencies to do so. The link to this is here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/rshe-team/review-of-the-rshe-statutory-guidance/
Sources:
Relationships and Sex Education: The Evidence
British Medical Association
British Psychological Society
BPS Sexualities Section
Safe Lives: An exploration of Relationship and Sex Education in Schools