Ofsted has today reported that parents and schools are failing to teach adequately Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE), particularly in the area of Sex and Relationships Education (SRE). In response, the British Humanist Association (BHA) has called for SRE to be made a statutory requirement in all schools.
Ofsted has revealed that teenagers in particular are not being given good enough information about SRE. Because PSHE is not part of the National Curriculum, there are few specialist teachers and the impact of this education is rarely assessed.
Andrew Copson , BHA Education Officer, commented, ‘While some parents are able to talk openly to their children about sex and relationships, many are not. Schools, therefore, have an absolutely crucial role in providing all children and young people open and objective info rmation on sensitive and personal issues of physical and emotional development.
‘Successive governments have failed to make SRE a statutory requirement in schools and for all pupils, in part because of continued pressure from religious groups. This misguided approach is depriving children and young people of their right to good quality, impartial education and the knowledge to make sensible and info rmed decisions about their own lives.’
The BHA believes that all children are entitled to full and accurate SRE, including unbiased information on contraception, STDs, abortion, sexual orientation, and the many forms of family relationship conducive to individual fulfilment and the stability of society.
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For further comment or information, Andrew Copson by email or on 020 7079 3584.
Find more information on the BHA’s position on Sex and Relationship Education in schools here .
rt on PSHE here .
The British Humanist Association (BHA) represents and supports the non-religious and campaigns for an end to religious privilege and to discrimination based on religion or belief and is the largest organisation in the UK working for a secular society. In education, this means an end to the expansion of faith schools and for the assimilation of those that currently exist into a system of inclusive and accommodating community schools. The BHA advocates a broad curriculum which will develop every aspect of the child and which must include good education in sex and relationships.