Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure parents have access to the materials used to teach their children in (a) relationships, sex and health education, (b) religious education and (c) other lessons.

The department agrees that parents should be able to see what their children are taught, and that schools should be responsive to parents who request to see specific curriculum materials.

Schools are required to share information concerning their curriculum with parents, including for relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) and religious education.

Guidance on what maintained schools must or should publish online is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-maintained-schools-must-publish-online. Guidance on what academies and further education colleges must or should publish online is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/what-maintained-schools-must-publish-online.

Schools are also required to consult parents in advance on their relationships and sex education policies. The statutory guidance is clear that this should include sharing examples of the materials they plan to use.

If a parent feels that a school is failing to comply with its legal requirements relating to the provision of the curriculum, or that a school is acting unreasonably in the way it complies with them, they can make a formal complaint by following the school’s statutory complaints procedures.

The department is currently reviewing the RSHE statutory guidance. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has been clear that children’s wellbeing must be at the heart of this guidance for schools. As such, the government will look carefully at the consultation responses and consider the relevant evidence, including the Cass Review which has since been published, before setting out next steps.