PSHE Association joins call to bring sex and relationships education into the internet age

The PSHE Association has joined seventy other respected bodies and experts in calling for the Department for Education to update its guidance to schools on sex and relationships education (SRE), last updated in 13 years ago. A joint letter was published in the Daily Telegraph and supported by the Telegraph’s leader column today.

PSHE Association Chief Executive Joe Hayman said:

“In the year 2000 social networking didn’t exist, internet pornography wasn’t so widely available and internet access was confined to desktop computers. Sex and relationships urgently needs to adapt to the technological revolution that’s taken place since. Sophisticated technology poses sophisticated challenges, and we all, including Government, need to respond with suitably complex solutions to help teachers support their pupils to navigate these challenges. The current DfE guidance is both out of date in this respect and in its references to now obsolete websites and initiatives.”

“While this campaign is rightly focused on statutory guidance, expert bodies such as ourselves should also play their part in raising standards in sex and relationships education, which pupils, parents  and Ofsted  consistently suggest is not good enough.  With this in mind, we have recently updated our guidance for schools in developing and improving their SRE policies. We also work in close partnership with the Sex Education Forum, which has a range of useful resources to help schools improve their SRE programmes, as well as a range of other organisations which seek to raise standards in SRE education. It is a responsibility we all share.”

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