Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the new relationships education, relationships and sex education and health education guidance requires schools to teach pupils (a) what constitutes domestic abuse and (b) how that abuse might manifest in their own (i) LGBT+ and (ii) other relationships.

We are committed to supporting all schools in their preparations to introduce relationships education (primary school pupils), relationships and sex education (secondary school pupils), and health education (state-funded school pupils) to a high standard from September 2020.

Through relationships education and relationships and sex education, schools will teach pupils the knowledge they need to recognise and report abuse, including emotional, physical and sexual abuse in an age and developmentally appropriate way.

In primary schools, this will be delivered through focusing on boundaries and privacy in relationships with peers and family, including online. Pupils will also be taught how to report concerns or abuse.

At secondary school, content such as grooming, sexual exploitation and domestic abuse, should also be addressed sensitively and clearly. Pupils should know the concepts of the law relating to sexual consent, exploitation, domestic abuse, rape, honour-based violence and Female Genital Mutilation, and how these can affect current and future relationships and where to access support if they are at risk.

All pupils should receive teaching on LGBT relationships during their school years. The guidance recommends that LGBT specific content, when taught, is fully integrated in schools’ programme of study for this area of the curriculum.

Relationships education, relationships and sex education, and health education will also support the statutory ‘Keeping Children Safe in Education’ guidance for schools, which they must consider when carrying out their duties to safeguard and promote the welfare of children.