I am grateful for my hon. Friend’s indication as a Select Committee Chair that he joins the club of Chairmen who support this important move. He is right that there is scope within these measures for schools to tailor their response to this subject matter in a way that best meets the needs of their pupils. There is already some excellent material available from the likes of the PSHE Association which sets out how they can do that in an age-appropriate way and in a way that meets the challenges that we know the modern world throws at children at an ever more tender age.
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The regulations and guidance we produce will make very clear the expectation that schools will have the flexibility to teach subjects in accordance with their ethos and pupils’ religious backgrounds. The Secretary of State must give schools guidance on how to deliver this, and this provision enables faith schools to teach their subjects according to the tenets of their faith while still being consistent with the requirements of the Equality Act.
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon, chairman of the Catholic Education Service, said in support of these proposals:
“We welcome the Government’s commitment to improving Relationship and Sex Education in all schools. Catholic schools already teach age-appropriate Relationship and Sex Education in both primary and secondary schools.”
Nigel Genders, the Church of England’s chief education officer, said:
“With one million children being educated in Church of England schools, we are all too well aware of the pressing need to equip children for the world in which they are growing up. . . We therefore welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to putting Relationships and Sex Education on a statutory footing.”
We have committed to retain a right to withdraw from sex education in RSE, because parents should have the right, if they wish, to teach sex education themselves in a way that is consistent with their values. We do not propose a right to withdraw from relationships education at primary level, because that will focus, as I said, on themes such as friendships, family relationships and dealing with strangers, not sex education.
Pupils will learn about the characteristics of healthy relationships that we can all agree on, such as respect, commitment, tolerance and proper boundaries. Knowing and understanding these characteristics, including how to build such healthy relationships, will help children be happy and, crucially, safe from others, such as in situations where they might try to exploit a lack of clarity about what is and is not acceptable.
Schools will continue to be required to publish policies on these subjects for parents, and statutory guidance will continue to set out that schools should consult parents on those policies to ensure they are feeding in their views. For those parents who still prefer to provide this education themselves, we absolutely intend to retain a right to withdraw from sex education. We will, as part of this, need to amend the current right to withdraw to make sure it remains in line with case law, and we will consult further in order to clarify the age at which a young person may have the right to make their own decisions about whether to withdraw from that aspect of their education or not. I want to assure Members that the outcome will be set out in regulations which will be subject to consultation and debate.
It is important to note that relationship and sex education falls within the scope of school inspection. Inspections will check to see that a school is providing the full statutory curriculum, and these issues can also be considered within the context of assessing the school’s leadership, the quality of teaching, pupil safety and pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Key elements are already covered in Ofsted’s school inspection handbook, and Her Majesty’s chief inspector will take full account of the new requirements in determining future school inspection arrangements. Ofsted is already seeking to appoint an HMI lead for citizenship and PSHE, whose role will be to keep abreast of developments in this area and oversee the training of inspectors in light of the new expectations on schools. Independent schools will also be held to account through inspectors reporting against the independent school standards.