Agenda item

Briefing Note of the Director of Children’s Services

The Scrutiny Board considered the briefing note of the Executive Director for People which informed members about the current situation and future plans for relationship and sex education (RSE) in Coventry.

The briefing stated that personal, social and health education (PSHE including RSE) was not currently a statutory requirement for schools.  Primary schools can decide not to deliver RSE outside of the National Curriculum Science but must have an RSE policy stating this intention (applies to local authority maintained schools only). RSE is statutory in maintained Secondary Schools (DfE 2014) and schools must teach about HIV, AIDS and sexually transmitted infections.

The Department for Education (DfE) had published supplementary guidance on PSHE education which reiterated previous Government policy on the subject, stating that while PSHE education remained a non-statutory subject, it was ‘an important and necessary part of pupils’ education.  From September 2015 OFSTED’s key judgement Behaviour and Safety had been replaced by the key judgement Personal Development, Behaviour and Welfare. ‘Inspectors will evaluate the extent to which the school successfully promotes and supports pupils’: including “understanding of how to keep themselves safe from relevant risks such as abuse, sexual exploitation and extremism, including when using the internet and social media”.

Teenage pregnancy rates were decreasing nationally.  In Coventry, the rates had fallen by approximately 45% between 1998 and 2014.  Since 2008, the Coventry rates had been falling at a faster rate than nationally.  In 2014, the under-16 conception rate in Coventry was similar rather than significantly higher than the national average for the first time.  Whilst there were many factors which have influenced this decline, high quality RSE was one of the key evidence based areas for action in this area.

Longford and Binley and Willenhall wards had the highest rates of teenage conceptions in Coventry.  However, as conception data was a composite of both live births and terminations (for which ward data cannot be supplied), this masks areas where there were high rates of termination in the City.

There were currently 35 academy schools in Coventry, 5 free schools and 81 maintained schools although this was constantly evolving.  If all schools became academies none of them would be required to teach basic RSE.  However, there were many schools demonstrating good practice with regard to RSE delivery across the City.

Standard lesson plans had been provided to all primary, secondary and special educational needs schools, were updated regularly and were available on www.besavvy.org.uk (Coventry’s public facing information website about relationships and sexual health).  Additionally, the C-card (condom-distribution) scheme continued to be delivered by school nurses and education staff in schools in Coventry. City College and Henley College distributed nearly 1,300 condoms through the scheme during the first quarter of 2016/17.

The Scrutiny Board questioned the Cabinet Member and officers on the following:

·  schools sharing good practice

·  support for wards with higher rates of conception

·  data

·  involving young people

·  the use of social media

RESOLVED that

1.  The suggested recommendations to the Cabinet Member were approved by the Scrutiny Board as below:

a)  the contribution that high quality Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) can make to improve the lives of children and young people, support the plans to put forward RSE as a priority for the consideration of the newly established Primary and Secondary Partnerships, and promote RSE with fellow members and governing bodies of schools, through placing it on the agenda/supporting the work of Officers at school governors’ meetings.

b)  support ongoing lobbying to include Personal Social and Relationships Education as a statutory requirement for schools.

c)  request case study presentations from Headteachers of schools where high quality Relationships and Sex Education is being delivered to be brought to a future Scrutiny Board meeting.

d)  recommend the Cabinet Member considers including questions on Relationships and Sex Education as part of schools safeguarding audit s175/s157 audit providing challenge to schools when appropriate.

2.  The following recommendations to the Cabinet Members were added:

a)  Consider the use of un-validated data on conceptions to enable more up to date analysis and better targeting of services

b)  To involve young people in discussions about what they would like as part of Relationships and Sex Education