A welcome for sex education

EDUCATION chiefs at Warrington have welcome a Government announcement that Personal Social Health and Economic Education (PSHE) is to become a compulsory part of the curriculum for all 5-16 year-olds by 2010.
The announcement is in response to the finding of the review of Sex and Relationships Education (SRE) in schools and the report by the Advisory Group on Drug and Alcohol Education which both recommended that good PSHE was vital to providing a healthy, rounded education.
Warrington’s Children Services directorate says it is delighted with the Government decision which, they believe will ensure improvement and consistency in teaching and learning PSHE, as well as raising its status.
The council’s Healthy Schools Team is already carrying out a great deal of work to improve the quality of teaching and learning in PSHE in Warrington schools.
However, more work will be necessary.
Schools in the borough are continuing to invest in the PSHE Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for teachers. Already, 54 per cent of Warrington schools have an accredited lead teacher for PSHE.
Ninety one per cent of school health advisers are accredited to deliver PSHE within the curriculum with a specialism in SRE.
Warrington also secured the national pilot for the Community PSHE CPD certification, ensuring that non-teachers and nurses work within a PSHE quality framework for supporting classroom delivery.
NHS Warrington is also providing preventative and screen activities to schools in drugs and alcohol prevention, smoking and health education, puberty/hygiene education as well as targeted work with individual children.
A spokeswoman for Children’s Services said one of the challenges facing the borough would be training health and education processionals to ensure they were confident and competent to deliver the statutory provision.
Another could be opposition from faith schools delivering SRE.
However, Warrington schools in general had been very good and consulting and informing parents about SRE delivery in school.