Gillian Keegan tells schools to let parents see sex education materials

Education secretary’s letter emphasises copyright cannot be used as ‘excuse’ to withhold RSHE teaching resources

Gillian Keegan has written to schools in England ordering them to make the materials used in children’s sex education available to be seen by parents, warning headteachers there can be “no ifs, no buts, no more excuses”.

It is the second letter the education secretary has sent to schools on the issue, which has been seized upon by some backbench Conservative MPs amid claims that children are being exposed to inappropriate material during relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) at school.

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School leaders frustrated by ‘squabble’ over Sunak’s promised transgender guidance

Internal battle between ministers leaving schools in England isolated, says headteachers’ representative

Schools are being left in limbo by the government’s “political squabbles” delaying its transgender guidance for students and staff, according to school leaders.

Rishi Sunak had promised that guidance for schools in England dealing with trans issues would be published by the end of the summer term. But the guidance has been held up by legal questions, with No 10 saying on Wednesday that “more evidence is required” before publication.

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Teenagers in Scotland campaign to improve education on consent

Bold Girls Ken seek youth-led changes in curriculum to help children understand concept earlier

Every young person should know what consent looks and feels like, online and offline, according to a group of Perthshire teenagers who are pioneering a youth-led upgrade of sex education.

Taking a bracingly honest approach to the deluge of “normalised” soft pornography they say most children are familiar with by the time they enter high school, Bold Girls Ken is the first campaign of its kind in Scotland, with young women designing their own learning materials.

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‘Child identifying as cat’ controversy: from TikTok video to media frenzy

Tory calls for urgent investigation raise eyebrows as Rye college says no pupil identifies ‘as a cat or any other animal’

It started off innocuously enough – a leaked snippet of teenage pupils at a school debating whether a person could identify as a cat.

But within days, and thanks to a media frenzy, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer were being asked about the remarks. And by the end of the week, Kemi Badenoch was demanding the school be urgently investigated by Ofsted in case there were safeguarding issues.

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Children in England’s schools need better sex education, experts tell MPs

Too few teachers have training in how to deliver lessons in relationships and sex, committee told

Children need more and better sex and relationship education in England’s schools, to help them navigate the issues they are likely to face as they get older, experts have told MPs.

The Commons women and equalities committee heard that too few teachers in England have received training in how to deliver lessons in relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) since it became a compulsory topic in 2019.

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Don’t ‘celebrate’ gay people, just accept us, says teacher at centre of schools row

A year on from the protests in Birmingham, Andrew Moffat is still promoting his No Outsiders programme – with a twist

Andrew Moffat, the gay teacher targeted by Muslim anti-LGBT protesters at Parkfield community school in Birmingham, is wearing his usual rainbow lanyard and says he feels safe again. A year on from the ugly scenes outside the school gate, his hands no longer tremble, there have been no recent death threats, and he doesn’t have to call home when he arrives at work each morning.

He’s just published his second book, No Outsiders: Everyone Different, Everyone Welcome, a new version of his award-winning lessons on equality, No Outsiders.

Related: There is never a reason for bigotry at the school gates | Kenan Malik

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Don’t ‘celebrate’ gay people, just accept us, says teacher at centre of schools row

A year on from the protests in Birmingham, Andrew Moffat is still promoting his No Outsiders programme – with a twist

Andrew Moffat, the gay teacher targeted by Muslim anti-LGBT protesters at Parkfield community school in Birmingham, is wearing his usual rainbow lanyard and says he feels safe again. A year on from the ugly scenes outside the school gate, his hands no longer tremble, there have been no recent death threats, and he doesn’t have to call home when he arrives at work each morning.

He’s just published his second book, No Outsiders: Everyone Different, Everyone Welcome, a new version of his award-winning lessons on equality, No Outsiders.

Related: There is never a reason for bigotry at the school gates | Kenan Malik

Continue reading…

Don’t ‘celebrate’ gay people, just accept us, says teacher at centre of schools row

A year on from the protests in Birmingham, Andrew Moffat is still promoting his No Outsiders programme – with a twist

Andrew Moffat, the gay teacher targeted by Muslim anti-LGBT protesters at Parkfield community school in Birmingham, is wearing his usual rainbow lanyard and says he feels safe again. A year on from the ugly scenes outside the school gate, his hands no longer tremble, there have been no recent death threats, and he doesn’t have to call home when he arrives at work each morning.

He’s just published his second book, No Outsiders: Everyone Different, Everyone Welcome, a new version of his award-winning lessons on equality, No Outsiders.

Related: There is never a reason for bigotry at the school gates | Kenan Malik

Continue reading…

Sex education: ‘We can’t let teachers perpetuate a homophobic or transphobic narrative’

New guidance will leave many children in England ignorant about consent, forced marriage and LGBTQ+ issues, say young activists

Relationships and sex education (RSE) will be compulsory for all secondary pupils in England from September, and primary schools will also need to teach about relationships. What these courses will contain, however, is left mainly to headteachers and governors, in consultation with parents. The Department for Education has issued guidance for teachers, but does it go far enough?

No, say young sex educators, who want the lessons to go beyond the mechanics of condoms on cucumbers to take fuller account of contentious issues such as consent, LGBTQ+, sex abuse and forced marriage.

Related: Sex education in schools is from an era when the Spice Girls were equality icons | Laura McInerney

Related: Sex education: what do today’s children really need to know?

Related: Fear of LGBT-inclusive lessons harks back to 80s, says Peter Tatchell

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‘Parents know best’: Esther McVey faces Tory backlash over LGBT lessons

Potential PM says ‘final say’ on children learning about same-sex relationships is for parents

Tory leadership hopeful Esther McVey has come under fire from within her own party after she said it should be up to parents if they want to withdraw their primary-age children from lessons on same-sex relationships.

The remarks by McVey, a former work and pensions secretary, sparked a backlash from equality campaigners and one of her own colleagues, Justine Greening, who was the first openly gay female cabinet minister.

Related: Fear of LGBT-inclusive lessons harks back to 80s, says Peter Tatchell

Introduced by the Thatcher government, Section 28 of the Local Government Act stated that a local authority shall not ‘intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality’ or ‘promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship’.

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