Refreshed resource 'Relationships and Sexuality Education' released

A refreshed resource, Relationships and Sexuality Education: a guide for teachers, leaders, and boards of trustees has been released that focuses strongly on consensual, healthy and respectful relationships as being essential to student wellbeing. It is available in two volumes: one for Years 1-8 and one for Years 9-13.

The recently released resource reflects feedback from the Kōrero Mātauranga |Education Conversation calling on schools to take more action against bullying, violence and child abuse, for schools to be more inclusive, and for schools to help students recognise the importance of diversity and respect in relationships.

It also responds to a recent Education Review Office (ERO) report noting that our health curriculum guidance would benefit from more information around issues such as consent, the use of digital technologies, and healthy relationships.

The revision takes full account of the impact of social media, shifting societal norms relating to sexuality and gender diversity, and the increasing availability of confronting and explicit online content. Māori and Pacific views of sexuality and the importance of respecting cultural and family dynamics in relationships are strengthened, as is information about relationships and sexuality education for disabled learners.

Community groups, schools, health education organisations and youth groups, along with the Ministries of Health and Education, have made an invaluable contribution to the revised resource which focuses strongly on consensual, healthy and respectful relationships as being essential to student wellbeing.

This learning, along with mental health and drug and alcohol education, body care and physical safety, and food and nutrition, is part of the Health and Physical Education learning area of The New Zealand Curriculum.

The new Relationships and Sexuality Education resource helps to promote student wellbeing by supporting teaching programmes that increase students’ ability to make well-informed and confident choices about relationships and their own health and safety, and become positive in their own identities.

They are also designed to give clearer guidance to school boards to work with their communities, as they are required to do, on the design and delivery of relationships and sexuality programmes in our schools.

The revised resource is available from Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI)(external link)

Printed copies are being distributed to all English-medium state and state-integrated schools in Term 4, 2020. Further copies can be ordered from Down the Back of the Chair(external link)

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