Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether materials from religious organisations are permitted in schools under the Plan your relationships, sex and health curriculum guidance published by his Department on 24 September 2020.

The Department is committed to supporting all schools to deliver the content of the new subjects of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE). When teaching the new RSHE subjects, schools should take into account the age of pupils and their religious background.

Our support package, published on 24 September, is aimed at helping all schools increase their confidence and quality of their teaching practice. This package includes teacher training modules, non-statutory implementation guidance and training led by Teaching Schools.

The Department has made clear that it is important that schools take full responsibility for ensuring lessons and materials they intend to use are age appropriate, suitable and politically impartial, particularly when using materials produced by external organisations. We are aware that there are many resources in circulation to support schools to deliver these subjects.

The Department’s ‘Plan your relationships, sex and health curriculum’ implementation guidance includes advice on working with external agencies. It builds on the content of the statutory RSHE guidance and it includes clear advice on choosing resources. It states that schools should assess each resource that they propose to use to ensure it is appropriate for the age and maturity of their pupils and sensitive to their needs, where relevant. This guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/plan-your-relationships-sex-and-health-curriculum.