What the New Relationships and Sex Education Schools Guidance Really Means with Lisa Hallgarten
In this episode, Hannah is joined by Lisa Hallgarten, who is the Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Brook. Lisa discusses Sexual Health Week 2020: Get Your RSE in Gear, and what the new UK law about mandatory sex and relationships education means for schools and teachers from September 2020. She and Hannah talk about the 30 year campaign to get RSE on the UK curriculum, the guidance released by the government, and what it does (and doesn’t) contain. Finally, Lisa and Hannah discuss the problem with “age-appropriateness” and Lisa gives some tips and resources for teachers.
Read the episode transcript here!
SHOW NOTES
What we chat about…
Who are Brook and what is Lisa’s role there?
How did the new RSE guidelines come about? What were the guidelines like before?
Is the feeling around sex education still that it’s focused on protection from harm? Has there been any positive change in the new guidance?
What does the new guidance say about consent?
How do you tell the difference between fearmongering and genuine concern? (13:30)
What does the new guidance say about LGBT issues? Are they included? Are they a mandatory topic?
The problem with the term “age-appropriate”
Some of the linguistic loopholes in the guidance
Does the guidance include anything on ability? Like physical or neurological disabilities?
Why is it called RSE now and not SRE? (Relationships and Sex Education rather than Sex and Relationships Education)
What does the guidance say about faith schools?
Does the guidance cover abortion?
How does the guidance address parental removal?
What does RSE look like in primary schools? What does it teach? Why is it important for primary school children to learn about consent and puberty?
How should teachers handle parents objecting to their children being taught the RSE? Are there any resources for teachers to help them navigate those situations?
What does the new RSE guidance practically look like in schools? How will it affect schedules and timetables?
Does Lisa think RSE should be treated as a specialist subject in schools?
What does the new RSE guidance say about the internet?
Which training resources does Lisa recommend for teachers?
USEFUL LINKS
Sexual Health Week: https://www.brook.org.uk/shw/
Brook: https://www.brook.org.uk/
Last year’s sex & disability episodes:
What Does Disability and Being Queer Feel Like? with Andrew Gurza: https://doingitpodcast.co.uk/episodes/andrewgurza
Disability, Sex, Relationships and Dating Roundtable: https://doingitpodcast.co.uk/episodes/roundtablediscussion
MENCAP: https://www.mencap.org.uk/
Autistic people talking about rse video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwEH9Ui4HV8
Brook’s free e-learning tools: https://www.brook.org.uk/brook-learn/
Sex Education Forum: https://www.sexeducationforum.org.uk/
MORE ABOUT LISA HALLGARTEN
Lisa is Head of Policy and Public Affairs at Brook the young people’s sexual health charity. She has spent her career as an educator, trainer and advocate for young people’s rights to accessible sexual health services; and championing inclusive, comprehensive, and sex-positive Relationships and Sex Education. She has published extensively on young people’s reproductive and sexual health; and in 2018 made a film to mark the 50th anniversary of the Abortion Act: Kind to Women: how the 1967 Abortion Act changed our lives.
Brook: https://www.brook.org.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrookCharity
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brook_sexpositive/
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