AQW 453/22-27


Mr Eóin Tennyson
Alliance Party
Upper Bann


Tabled Date: 24/05/2022
Answered On Date: 10/06/2022
Priority Written: No


Question:
To ask the Minister of Education what steps her Department has taken to implement the recommendations of the Gillen Review to include matters such as consent, personal space, boundaries, appropriate behaviour, relationships, fears of homophobia and transphobia, gender identity and sexuality, in the school curriculum.


Answer:
The Gillen Report calls on my Department to encourage schools to include issues around serious sexual offences within their curriculum, including the issues of consent and violence against women and girls and that work is being taken forward.
Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age and it is the responsibility of the Board of Governors of each school to ensure that a comprehensive programme is delivered. This is the case for all areas of learning. The Department also requires schools to develop their own RSE policy, which should be subject to consultation with governors and parents.
Beyond the minimum statutory content, it is a matter for teachers to decide how the curriculum should be delivered, which resources to use, and which specific topics should be covered. Teachers are expected to provide a balance of experiences. The statutory curriculum for Personal Development and Mutual Understanding in primary schools and the Personal Development strand of Learning for Life and Work in post primary schools, includes prescribed content for each Key Stage in the area of RSE.
The NI curriculum is designed to be adaptable and flexible. This presents a number of advantages in regard to the teaching of RSE. Schools and teachers are able to update and align curricular learning to reflect evolving societal requirements.
A wide range of resources have been developed and are available on the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment’s RSE Hub which will include the publication of an RSE Progression Framework. This approach is designed to improve confidence and capacity in the teaching of RSE. I have asked my officials to prepare additional guidelines for schools setting out the importance of ensuring the issues highlighted by the Gillen Review, including serious sexual offences and consent, are covered within the Curriculum. This will be issued before the end of the current school year.