Best Practice

Relationships education: What should we expect?

The campaign has been long and difficult, but at last those determined to see the introduction of statutory relationships and sex education have been rewarded. What can primary headteachers expect now as the discussions and consultations set in? Suzanne O’Connell reports

On March 1, 2017, education secretary Justine Greening made the announcement that relationships and sex education (RSE) will be compulsory in all schools in England from September 2019. For around 30 years there has been a campaign to make RSE statutory but its pace and strength had grown recently. Associations, such as the Sex Education Forum, had been joined by House of Commons Select Committees in calling for official status for this very important part of the curriculum.

Until now, Department for Education (DfE) resistance had been firm. As recently as February 2016, the then education secretary Nicky Morgan stated clearly that sex and relationships education would not be compulsory in all schools. Undeterred, the campaign continued.

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