Urgent action
Welsh Government has launched a public consultation on the Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) Statutory Guidance and Code.
Under new Welsh legislation RSE will be mandatory for all learners in Wales from the age of 3 to 16. Parents will not have the option of withdrawing their child from these lessons.
Merched Cymru and many others have serious concerns about the adequacy of the proposals and the opportunities it gives for inappropriate and ideologically-loaded lesson content. Few parents are aware of what this will mean for their children in practice since public engagement has been limited. We also know that schools rely on partner organisations and ready-made resources to deliver aspects of the RSE curriculum. Much of the material available is eye-catching but often scientifically inaccurate and promoting a belief system with no basis in fact.
Welsh Government are consulting on:
- how to deliver effective RSE in schools and other settings
- how practitioners should design a curriculum which responds to their learners,
makes connections and develops authentic contexts for learning across the
curriculum - content to be introduced at appropriate periods during a learner’s development
We believe that every child should have access to high quality, fully inclusive, safe, age-appropriate RSE. But we also believe that the Consultation Document doesn’t meet the standard expected of Statutory Guidance.
This is a sensitive subject area where boundaries are crucial.
The document uses confusing vocabulary and terminology, conflates sex and gender and includes an ideologically-loaded glossary that is both inaccurate and internally contradictory. The influence of niche academic theory is clear and it fails to address many issues that should be of concern to schools and will be of concern to parents.
Even where the draft document is clear there are concerns that existing materials and many current external providers of RSE education will not comply with them in a way that is safe, in line with the Equality Act and genuinely inclusive. We also believe that this area of the new Curriculum for Wales should be renamed Relationships and Sex Education.
Please speak up now before it’s too late!
Merched Cymru is calling for:
- High quality, age appropriate, scientifically accurate information for all children and young people to enable them to fulfil their potential, and live and love safely and healthily whatever their background or protected characteristics.
- An end to the conflation of the terms sex and gender, the appropriation of
inaccurate terminology, and to the confusion of objective facts with the subjective beliefs some people find helpful when coping with their everyday lives and making sense of their feelings. - Provision to address the impact of biological sex, sexism and stereotyping on boys and girls, along with a focus on addressing the additional barriers, harassment, discrimination and risk of harm experienced by girls and young women because they are female.
- Clear guidance for schools and youth groups – as already provided by the DfE in England – to enable them to judge what is and isn’t appropriate for inclusion in the lessons to deliver the RSE curriculum.
- A central list of approved resources and organisations which comply with the
Guidance and Code. This should be held at either a Wales-wide or local authority level to ensure that materials, lesson plans, partner organisations and trainers have been vetted and DBS checked in line with safeguarding best practice.
How can you help?
There are three ways we would like you to help. The first two are the most important.
- Respond to the consultation, either as an individual or as part of a group – or both. You can do this anonymously. There are 10 questions but you don’t need to answer all of them and most of the points can be made by answering three or four. Question 10 is an open one. Children and young people can also respond. You can find the consultation paper and respond electronically here. It’s much better to use your own words and if you have any personal experience or professional expertise that is relevant it’s very useful to draw on it. Both Safe Schools Alliance and Merched Cymru have ideas for responding. It’s worth checking them both out.
- Spread the word. Discuss your concerns with friends and family and on social media (#RSEWales #FactsNotIdeology) and amplify tweets and posts by Merched Cymru and other organisations. If you have children in school discuss the issue with other parents, with teachers, headteachers and governors. Encourage others to respond to the consultation as well.You can use the Merched Cymru RSE Consultation flyers (see below) to help with this, or display as a poster.
- Contact Senedd Members. If you have time to spare after doing the above, you could drop a line to your Senedd members. Remember that you have five: one representing your constituency and another four from the regional list. Find out who they are and their contact details here. Your MP may be interested in hearing your views too.
Even if you only have time to submit something very brief, please do so. There has been insufficient public engagement with this so far, and there probably won’t be another chance.
