Relationships & Sex Education is now required in all schools. Do you know what the new legislation means for your setting?
All schools, irrelevant of status or governance, must have a Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) policy and curriculum in place, and that includes SEND schools. There is a statutory requirement to provide RSE for all your learners.[i]
Historically, RSE has been a challenge within our SEND settings and many still perceive it as a difficult area to teach. There is very little training and support during initial teacher training courses, limited specific guidance for our settings, and a scarcity of relevant SEND resources you can pick off the shelf.
Teacher confidence in delivering Relationships and Sex Education has historically been very low, with many teachers feeling not suitably trained or confident to deliver RSE. Many of those working with special learners have been reluctant to become involved in Relationships and Sex Education due to feeling a lack of knowledge about the subject and low confidence in their abilities.
Relationship & Sex Education guidance across the UK
What can add to our confusion is the range of guidance across the UK:
Relationships & Sexuality Education in Wales
Based on UNESCO’s RSE technical guidance, the compulsory, comprehensive, and inclusive Relationships and Sexuality Education was introduced in 2022. The planned changes mean the subject will be taught to children from the age of five.
Relationships, Sexual Health & Parenthood guidance in Scotland
The Scottish Government published statutory guidance on Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood Education in state-maintained schools in 2014. However, it is not compulsory in faith schools, which teach one in five pupils in Scotland, as they may follow their own guidance.
RSE in Northern Ireland
RSE is included on a statutory basis within the Northern Irish curriculum. Although grant-aided schools are required to develop a policy on relationships and sexuality education, this is based on the ethos of the school.
Relationships and Sex Education in England
From 2020, all secondary schools are required to teach Relationships and Sex Education. All primary schools are required to teach Relationship Education. Guidance for schools covers a range of topics, including LGBT inclusivity, consent and social media.
New DfE guidance for RSE
The Department for Education released the much-anticipated DfE RSE draft guidance, ‘Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education, Guidance for governing bodies, proprietors, head teachers, principals, senior leadership teams, teachers’ in July 2018, followed by the equally anticipated final guidance (2019). It contains several points about Special Education settings.
3 SEN specific guidance points from the DfE to improve your RSE provision
- Accessibility and personalisation
“Relationships Education, RSE and Health Education must be accessible for all pupils. This is particularly important when planning teaching for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities as they represent a large minority of pupils. High quality teaching that is differentiated and personalised will be the starting point to ensure accessibility. Schools should also be mindful of the preparing for adulthood outcomes, as set out in the SEND code of practice, when preparing these subjects for those with SEND.”[ii] - Awareness of vulnerability
“Schools should be aware that some pupils are more vulnerable to exploitation, bullying and other issues due to the nature of their SEND. Relationships Education can also be a particular priority for some pupils, for example some with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs or learning disabilities. Such factors should be taken into consideration in designing and teaching these subjects.” - Tailored content
“In special schools and for some SEND pupils in mainstream schools there may be a need to tailor content and teaching to meet the specific needs of children at different developmental stages.”
SEND settings need to develop RSE teaching for individualised needs
Teaching RSE to meet the individualised needs of our special learners is a skilful job. We understand and appreciate the connection between RSE and Safeguarding and we know that our special learners are the most vulnerable in society.
Teachers make the most difficult of concepts accessible to our learners. Delivering differentiated, personalised learning experiences is what they do all day, every day. But special schools can also benefit from supportive guidance, tailored training, and signposting to access advice and resources.
Looking forward
Despite the statutory status RSE has been awarded in some parts of the UK, we may have to wait for specific RSE SEND guidance from the DfE and other devolved governments.
In the meantime, we can work together to improve our RSE provision and provide the comprehensive, life skills-based education our learners need. At the same time, we can show Ofsted that our RSE curriculum meets the needs of all our special learners.
More information
If you’d like to explore some of the topics mentioned in this article, click here.
Paul Bray is a Principal Team Teach trainer, experienced educator and RSE specialist.
In his role as Headteacher of a Post-16 SEND provision in 2010, Paul quickly learned there was no RSE guidance relevant to his learners.
Paul has become renowned for his work in supporting Relationships and Sex Education, particularly for disabled young people and those with special educational needs.
He’s taught on the Special Educational Needs & Disability Studies degree course, and been a speaker at the National Association of Colleges’ annual conference, the World Education Summit, the Sex Education Forum & the National Children’s Bureau conference.
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[i] Department for Education (2019) Relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education. (accessed 15.9.22). Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education
[ii] ‘Preparing for adulthood’ outcomes are set out at section 7.38 of the SEND code of practice: 0 to 25 years.