RSE: facts or fiction?

Dear Sir,

The article ‘Parents, take back control’ in the May issue of en mixes a correct assertion of parents’ rights to ensure teaching conforms with their religious convictions with an incorrect interpretation of the Government’s new Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum requirement. To suggest that the proposals amount to ‘a form of child grooming’ and ‘opens the door to sexual predators’ is, I am afraid, scaremongering and must be challenged.

First, let’s get the facts straight: The new RSE curriculum is only compulsory from secondary school age, like the old Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) curriculum. What has changed is not just an acronym, but relationships are at the front and centre of the new curriculum. Rather than just a focus on reproduction, sexuality and sexual health, the focus is on relationships. Rather than a drive towards compulsory sex education, what has come onto the statute book is compulsory Relationships Education. Its aim in the words of the Education Secretary is to ‘put in place the key building blocks of healthy, respectful relationships, focusing on family and friendships, in all contexts, including online’.

Parents have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of RSE. The school should respect the parents’ request to withdraw the child, up to and until three terms before the child turns 16. Only in exceptional circumstances, such as safeguarding issues, can the school override parents’ requests.

The Government has also stated that its ‘guiding principles have been that all of the compulsory subject content must be age appropriate and developmentally appropriate. It must be taught sensitively and inclusively, with respect to the backgrounds and beliefs of pupils and parents while always with the aim of providing pupils with the knowledge they need of the law.’

Most of the current debate about this issue, such as Muslim parents’ protests in Birmingham, are about the current curriculum, not the new curriculum which becomes statutory in September 2020. The new and updated guidance gives an opportunity to have a curriculum based on a Christian view of marriage, family and relationships whilst informing pupils at an age-appropriate stage about the legal and actual reality of same-sex relationships in society. In fact, church schools like the Catholic Education Service have been delivering Relationships Education in primary schools and Relationships and Sex Education in secondary schools for many years, and are referenced in the new guidance as a model curricula.

When I was an MP, I led these changes in Parliament to restrain the push for compulsory sex education in primary schools and promote relationships-based education for children who do not experience anything close to healthy relationships at home. I did not want these children to be ignored. The law retains the requirement to learn about marriage and its importance for family life and the bringing up of children, and fundamentally that ‘the education is appropriate having regard to the age and the religious background of the pupils’. The updated guidance has probably the most comprehensive section ever on respect for religious belief.

I recognise that, as with the current curriculum, there is a real risk of the imposition of an LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum. But the new law and guidance provides additional ways to engage and consult with parents and a legally enshrined respect for pupils’ religious backgrounds. The challenge now is not to listen so much to the siren voices, but to engage with church schools and organisations like Family Stability Network (www.fastn.org) who are looking to implement the new curriculum to support stable, healthy family relationships ahead of it becoming statutory next year.

Sincerely yours in Christ,