Today the Commons select committee published Life lessons: PSHE and SRE in schools. The report calls for statutory status for personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), including sex and relationships education (SRE).
Below we reveal what school leaders across the country said in The Key’s survey conducted in October 2014. Of the 1,104 who responded:
- More than nine out of 10 (91.5%) school leaders surveyed think sex and relationship education should start in either Key Stage 1 or 2.
- Almost two thirds (62.8%) of school leaders surveyed do not think teachers feel comfortable teaching sex and relationship education.
- More than eight out of 10 (81.8%) school leaders surveyed were worried about the impact that pornography is having on pupils in their school, nearly a quarter (24.2%) of these respondents were very concerned.
- Fewer than two out of 10 (15.7%) school leaders surveyed say parental objections to sex and relationship education are an issue in their school.
- More than four out of 10 (41.9%) school leaders surveyed think parents should NOT have the right to withdraw their children from sex and relationship education.
- Almost a third (30.8%) of school leaders think parents should sometimes have the right to withdraw their children from sex and relationship education, whilst just over a quarter (27.4%) think parents should have the right.
The committee’s report, follows a report by Ofsted in 2013 that found personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE), of which SRE is a part, required improvement in 40% of schools. According to a recent article in the Guardian, the Government’s latest advice for sex and relationships education is 14 years old.
For more information, please contact Jessica Bull on 0333 320 7687/ [email protected]