New age ratings to be introduced on Relationships, Sex and Health Education content in schools to ensure it is appropriately and sensitively taught, the government has proposed.
In a new announcement, children will be protected from inappropriate teaching on sensitive topics following renewed guidance from the Department for Education. Lesson content should be factual, appropriate and children should have the capacity to understand everything they are being taught.
Sex education will not be taught before Year 5 and curriculum materials should be available for parents to view.
There is also further content on suicide prevention in the secondary health and wellbeing section, including equipping pupils to recognise when they or their peers need help.
The guidance has also been developed further to help young people to understand the benefits of rationing time spent online and the impact on their wellbeing. The serious risks of viewing content that promotes self-harm and suicide is also included.
The guidance now also includes a dedicated section on sexual harassment and sexual violence, which covers some specific types of abusive behaviour that were not explicitly discussed previously, such as stalking, as well as advice for teachers about how to address misogynistic online influencers.
This draft document is now open to consultation.
