Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that all state funded schools adequately prepare their pupils for the responsibilities of probable future parenthood.
Answered by Lord Agnew of Oulton
Teachers are able to cover topics relating to parenting skills in their wider school curriculum, including in their personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education lessons. The non-statutory programme of study for PSHE includes the roles and responsibilities of parents, parenting skills, the value of family relationships, and the impact of separation, divorce and bereavement on families.
The Children and Social Work Act 2017 placed a duty on the Secretary of State for Education to make Relationships Education at primary and Relationships and Sex Education at secondary, mandatory through regulations. The Act also provides a power to make PSHE mandatory in all schools.
To ensure age appropriate and inclusive subject content for all key stages, the department is actively engaging with a wide range of stakeholders. As part of this work the department has launched a call for evidence, which will help inform the development of the regulations and guidance, and the types of support schools need for effective teaching of the subjects. The call for evidence, which closes on 12 February, is also seeking views on the future of PSHE. It can be accessed via this link: https://consult.education.gov.uk/life-skills/pshe-rse-call-for-evidence/.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the most recent Ofsted publications setting out the various issues to be taught in (1) personal, social and health education, and (2) sex and relationship education, in secondary schools make no reference to preparing pupils for future responsibilities as parents.
Answered by Lord Nash
It is not Ofsted’s role to issue guidance to schools on the content of any aspect of the curriculum.
Schools are required to provide a broad and balanced curriculum, and personal, social, health and economic education (PSHE) and sex and relationships education can contribute to this. The Department has issued guidance on sex and relationships education that sets out how schools should approach the teaching of this subject. All state-funded schools who teach sex education must have regard to this guidance. The Department has not provided guidance on PSHE as this is a non-statutory subject. Schools are free to determine the content of their curriculum, but can use the materials developed by the PSHE Association to support this. These materials include giving pupils the opportunity to learn about the roles and responsibilities of parents, carers and children in families.
The Children and Social Work Bill contains provisions relating to Relationships Education for primary schools, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) for secondary schools, and personal, social, health and economic education for primary and secondary schools. In March, the Government published a Policy Statement which sets out likely subject content, including family relationships. The policy statement can be accessed via this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-rse-and-pshe
Regulations and guidance for Relationships Education and RSE will be produced and the regulations will be laid before Parliament for debate and a vote. The Bill’s provisions also create a power enabling the Secretary of State to make regulations in the future requiring PSHE be taught in all schools in England: primary and secondary, maintained and academy. This is subject to decision-making following careful consideration.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the recently introduced obligation requiring all secondary schools to teach sex and relationship education requires schools to teach pupils about important relationships other than sexual relationships, particularly the relationships between fathers and sons.
Answered by Lord Nash
The government announced on 1 March 2017 proposals for statutory Relationships Education in primary schools, Relationships and Sex Education in secondary schools (RSE) and Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE), subject to careful consideration, in all schools. We want all pupils to be taught how to recognise and build healthy relationships of all kinds, including family relationships, friendships and, at the appropriate age, sexual relationships.
We plan to undertake a comprehensive programme of engagement with stakeholders about future provision in these areas. A key element of the engagement process will be gathering views and evidence to enable us to get the balance of subject content right, including through statutory guidance, enabling schools to design appropriate lessons. Regulations and statutory guidance will be subject to a full public consultation later this year and the regulations will be subject to debate and vote in Parliament.
The government’s plan is for schools to teach statutory Relationships Education, RSE, and PSHE (subject to consideration and consultation), from September 2019.
All pupils currently have the opportunity to learn about relationships in the non-statutory PSHE, or as part of the wider school curriculum. Schools are free to draw on the non-statutory programme of study produced by the PSHE Association in planning their provision. The programme of study includes topics, such as relationships and the value of family relationships.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they plan to take to encourage schools to recognise and promote the role fathers should play in preparing their sons for future fatherhood.
Answered by Lord Nash
All pupils, irrespective of gender, have the opportunity to learn about the responsibilities of fatherhood in non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education or as part of the wider school curriculum.
Schools are free to draw on the non-statutory programme of study produced by the PSHE Association in planning their provision. The programme of study includes topics on the roles and responsibilities of parents and the value of family relationships. Issues relating to parenting skills are included for pupils at key stage 3.
Following the Government’s announcement of 1 March about proposals for Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and PSHE, we plan to undertake a comprehensive programme of engagement with stakeholders about future provision in these areas. While we are not proposing to put content of the subjects on the face of legislation as this is too prescriptive and risks the legislation becoming out of date as the world changes, this process of engagement will enable us to get the balance of content right in guidance, enabling schools to design appropriate curricula. Regulations and statutory guidance will be subject to full public consultation later this year and the regulations will be subject to debate and vote in Parliament. Our plan is for schools to teach statutory Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and PSHE (subject to consideration and consultation), from September 2019.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their decision to make sex and relationship education compulsory in schools, whether they will consider requiring all schools that have male pupils to recognise and promote the importance of the role of fathers in society; and what steps they are taking to promote responsible fatherhood and appropriate preparation of boys and young men for responsible fatherhood.
Answered by Lord Nash
All pupils, irrespective of gender, have the opportunity to learn about the responsibilities of fatherhood in non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education or as part of the wider school curriculum.
Schools are free to draw on the non-statutory programme of study produced by the PSHE Association in planning their provision. The programme of study includes topics on the roles and responsibilities of parents and the value of family relationships. Issues relating to parenting skills are included for pupils at key stage 3.
Following the Government’s announcement of 1 March about proposals for Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and PSHE, we plan to undertake a comprehensive programme of engagement with stakeholders about future provision in these areas. While we are not proposing to put content of the subjects on the face of legislation as this is too prescriptive and risks the legislation becoming out of date as the world changes, this process of engagement will enable us to get the balance of content right in guidance, enabling schools to design appropriate curricula. Regulations and statutory guidance will be subject to full public consultation later this year and the regulations will be subject to debate and vote in Parliament. Our plan is for schools to teach statutory Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and PSHE (subject to consideration and consultation), from September 2019.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address issues arising from family breakdowns, and the impact on male children of growing up in a household without a resident father.
Answered by Lord Henley
The Government recognises the damaging impact of conflict between parents on children’s outcomes. New evidence was published last year highlighting this link, and making clear that the presence or absence of parental conflict has a much greater impact on a child’s outcomes than the structure of the child’s family. Our child maintenance system encourages separated parents to collaborate and make family based arrangements where they can, working together in the interests of their child once they separate. Evidence shows that after separation where parents are able to take a collaborative, low conflict approach it is better for children’s outcomes, including over the involvement of the non-resident parent where this is appropriate, whether this is the child’s mother or father.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government why the recently published Ofsted inspection framework does not make any reference to the role of parents and families in developing the personal, social and health education of children and in preparing those children for carrying out a role as parents in the future.
Answered by Lord Nash
The purpose of Ofsted school inspection is to assess the quality of education provided by the school for its pupils. This includes reporting on how well the school’s provision supports pupils’ personal development, behaviour and welfare, and their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. In addition, Ofsted’s school inspection handbook does require inspectors to consider how well leaders and governors engage with parents, carers and others in supporting pupils.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the increase in the number of children in the UK being brought up in a family with only one resident parent, and in particular of the number of boys being brought up in a family with no resident father; and what policy they have developed in this regard.
Answered by Lord Henley
The information requested is not collected.
This government is committed to providing the best outcomes for children. The Department’s forthcoming Green Paper on Social Justice will outline how it plans to improve children’s outcomes.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether it is their policy to ensure, as far as possible, that all male school children are aware of the responsibilities of parenthood by the time they leave school.
Answered by Lord Nash
All pupils, irrespective of gender have the opportunity to learn about the responsibilities of parenthood in non-statutory Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education and schools have the flexibility to determine when, and how, to teach it.
The department encourages schools to draw on the revised non-statutory programme of study produced by the PSHE Association that helps schools to plan their provision and includes the roles and responsibilities of parents and the value of family relationships, including the impact of separation, divorce and bereavement. Issues relating to parenting skills are included in the personal wellbeing of the programme of study at KS3.
Asked by: Lord Northbourne (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to introduce legislation to require all schools, including academies, to provide high quality sex and relationship education as part of their syllabus.
Answered by Lord Nash
The Government is clear that all schools should make provision for high-quality sex and relationship education, which is a vital part of preparing young people for life in modern Britain.
Academies, like maintained schools, must teach a broad and balanced curriculum and in respect of sex and relationship education, they must - under the terms of their funding agreement - have regard to the Secretary of State’s statutory Sex and Relationship Education guidance published in 2000.
The issue of statutory personal, social, health and economic education and sex and relationship education was raised during the Education Select Committee session in September. The Secretary of State agreed that we need to look again at how schools deliver high-quality personal, social, health and economic education including sex and relationship education. The Government is considering all the options and will come to a view in due course.