Memorandum submitted by Mrs Lindsey Abbott,
Deputy Headteacher, Slough and Eton Church of England School
SLOUGH AND
ETON CHURCH
OF ENGLAND
SCHOOL
The school is an 11-17 secondary school operating
in Chalvey, one of the most deprived wards of Slough with 85 per
cent of the 620 students from the Muslim faith. As there was a
distinct lack of up to date SRE teaching in the school and no
SRE policy the DFES SRE pilot was undertaken to address those
issues. The main problems surrounding this were:
(a) Students coming to the school from the
Muslim faith had received minimal sex and relationship education
at KS2.
(b) There were girls from the Asian community
who it was felt were engaging in sexual activity and needed support
as to where to go for sexual advice.
(c) The staff in the school lacked the confidence
and the training to teach SRE.
Over the past year 2001-02 the pilot has had
a very positive effect on the teaching of SRE and the understanding
of the subject by the students. It also supports the Government's
work on the teenage pregnancy strategy and the promotion of a
secure environment to discuss sexual health issues. Following
the success of the pilot and the excellent support of Deborah
Mbofana, the Teenage Pregnancy Coordinator, and Jamie Hassan,
the Healthy Schools Coordinator, Slough and Eton is setting up
a Resource Centre for local teachers to access materials that
all schools can use in their SRE teaching. The school will also
receive a Sexual Health Board that will be placed in a prominent
area of the school so that students can immediately view where
to go for help and advice in the local community as well as keep
up to date with relevant health issues.
IMPACT OF
THE SEX
AND RELATIONSHIPS
EDUCATION PROGRAMME
SRE at KS3, 4 and 5 leads to a greater understanding
of sexual health. The students are able to ask sensible questions
and receive straightforward answers. Where parents are too shy/not
willing to discuss issues at home the school enables young people
to access a very important part of the curriculum.
Since the SRE pilot the school has had invaluable
support from the experts at the sexual health clinic. This has
been very important for when writing schemes of work for the school
there has been someone to ensure that the lessons set were appropriate
to the students being taught.
Students are being taught enjoyable lessons
where they are more likely to remember what has been said. The
real progress made in the development of resources linked to the
teaching of sexual health adds to the ease in which it can be
openly discussed in the classroom.
Students will have greater confidence in discussing
sexual health issues before embarking on relationships and they
develop the confidence to say "no" in a relationship
because they really understand the implications.
The needs of the ethnic minority students are
being considered. Whilst following the SRE curriculum, care is
taken to ensure religious beliefs and traditions are considered
so those students do not miss out on their learning.
There is more openness with the local services.
For example the school nurses are now trained to work with students
in school and information is given to students to tell them where
to go if they need advice on any areas of sexual health.
It is still very hard to break through the barrier
of discussing sexual health with the parents.
When beginning this year's programme letters
were sent home to all year seven students informing the parents
what the sexual health unit would consist of and making available
the schemes of work. Two parents followed up my invitation to
view work. One was a Muslim mother who wanted to ensure that what
was being taught in the classroom complimented the religious teachings
in the home and the family values. It is really hard to get a
response from the Muslim parents.
AREAS THAT
STILL NEED
TO BE
ADDRESSED AS
PART OF
THE GOVERNMENT'S
STRATEGY FOR
SEXUAL HEALTH
The training of teachers in the teaching of
sexual health. All trainee teachers should receive expert training
in this area just the way they would in their subject area. Staff
in schools still shy away from SRE teaching because they find
the whole area too intrusive or they are worried they may say
the wrong thing. If training is given to teachers early on in
their career it will have a positive effect on the schools PSHE
programmes.
More ethnic minority groups to feature on the
sexual health resources used in school.
Continue to promote Healthy Living among all
young people through education and the media. Continue to raise
the profile in schools of all the link services attached to Sexual
Health.
The promotion of Advanced Skills Teachers in
the delivery of SRE to support schools. To see and hear experts
at work can only give confidence to those staff who have to deliver
SRE in the classroom.
Provide each senior school, or one within a
group of schools, with a ContraPack that is used by nurses to
deliver the teaching of contraception. This pack is ideal for
classroom teaching to show the students the different range of
contraception that is available and how it is used. It is an expensive
resource for schools to buy.
Ensuring that schools are able to provide young
people with information about where to go for help through cards,
leaflets or posters. Doing this is not promoting sexual activity
but being pragmatic about the fact that there will be some young
people who are active and need help while others have access to
information they will need in the future.
November 2002
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