- Education Secretary’s letter to schools and
parents makes crystal clear that schools must share
relationships, sex and health education (RSHE) curriculum
material with parents
- “No ifs, no buts, no more excuses.” Minister sets out that
copyright law is no barrier to full to disclosure to parents
- Thorough review of RSHE curriculum due before the end of the
year – where parents will be consulted
The Education Secretary is writing today, 24 October, to all
schools in England to make clear that they can and should share
relationships, sex and health curriculum materials with parents.
In addition, she has penned an open letter to parents – which
encourages them to have confidence in their right to know what
their children are seeing and being taught in the classroom.
The letter makes clear that companies providing teaching
resources cannot use copyright law to forbid schools from sharing
materials, and any attempt to do so through contract terms would
be unenforceable and void.
If a provider were to attempt to forbid sharing with parents when
asked, schools should continue regardless, because a blanket ban
would contradict the clear public interest in parents being aware
of what their children are being taught.
In the event that a school is faced with contractual clauses, the
Education Secretary is backing schools defending parents’ rights
with a practical sample letter that all schools can adapt and
send to external providers making clear such clauses are
void on the grounds that they are unenforceable.
Education Secretary said:
“No ifs, no buts and no more excuses. This government is acting
to guarantee parents’ fundamental right to know what their
children are being taught in sex and relationships education.
“Today I’m writing to schools and parents to debunk the copyright
myth that parents cannot see what their children are being
taught.
“Parents must be empowered to ask and schools should have the
confidence to share.”
Parentkind’s Chief Executive Jason Elsom said:
"Parentkind welcomes the Department for Education’s timely move
to strengthen parental rights in the teaching of RSHE. The key to
children receiving appropriate and beneficial relationships, sex
and health education (RSHE) teaching is full transparency with
parents.
“When we polled parents on RSHE earlier this year, a clear
picture emerged. Parents wanted to be consulted by schools in
advance and agreed that the teaching of the subject was
important.
“Our research clearly demonstrates that when parents are
consistently informed about RSHE in advance, they are
significantly likelier to have confidence in the curriculum and
be supportive of the content. This move should help to reassure
parents about the content and provision of RSHE."
The Education Secretary first wrote to all schools in England in
March in light of concerning reports of the teaching of
inappropriate materials as part of the RSHE curriculum.
This letter was clear that the government was initiating a
thorough review of the curriculum supported by an independent
panel, but that in the meantime schools should not enter
contractual conditions that prevent them sharing RHSE materials.
The new letter provides the most categorical position on the
application of copyright law in this area to date – as part of
the government’s overriding approach to empower both teachers and
parents to defend their rights.
It makes clear that where parents cannot attend a presentation or
they are unable to view materials via a “parent portal”, such as
a school website, schools may provide copies of materials to
parents to take home on request, providing parents agree to avoid
copying the content or sharing it further.
The Education Secretary and departmental officials have been
listening closely to parents and teachers as part of the thorough
review into the RSHE curriculum and will publish the updated
guidance for full public consultation later this year.
