LGBT-inclusive RSHE
Friday 19th February 2021
Stonewall have published their newest guide for schools, LGBT-inclusive RSHE: Putting it into Practice. This guide helps teachers of RSHE envision what quality LGBT-inclusive RSHE provision could look like and develop a curriculum that works for their school.
The implementation of statutory RSHE has come at a difficult time. It’s reassuring that the DfE have enabled schools to take a gradual approach: schools are enabled to deliver some RSHE this year (with a suggested focus on the immediate needs of their pupils, paying particular attention to physical and mental health, and positive relationships) whilst planning ahead to deliver their full provision next year.
We know schools will want to make sure that their RSHE provision is LGBT-inclusive, including the teaching they deliver this year. The statutory guidance on RSHE makes it clear that secondary schools must integrate LGBT content throughout their RSHE provision and, while this is not statutorily required for primary schools, primaries are ‘enabled and encouraged’ to include LGBT content when teaching about different families, which can form a core part of teaching about positive relationships.
In this difficult year, schools have been an essential lifeline for pupils and their families, and most schools have been - rightly - focused on safeguarding and on pupil wellbeing, including mental health. Quality RSHE is essential for keeping pupils safe, and supporting them to grow up happy, healthy and fulfilled. Like all pupils, LGBT pupils and those with LGBT family members deserve to receive quality RSHE that meets their needs and reflects their experiences or the experiences they may go on to have.
With that in mind, this guide has been created to help teachers feel confident delivering quality LGBT-inclusive RSHE, both now and next year. With ideas for threading LGBT content through the curriculum, top tips on key aspects of implementation, and plenty of suggested resources, we hope the guide will be useful for schools at any stage of their implementation journey. Readers can select the chapters most relevant to them, or read the guide in full.
You can download the guide in full here. For ease of reference, the content of the guide is summarised here and there are some top tips on delivering LGBT-inclusive RSHE online.
We hope this guide will be useful to you and your colleagues and we encourage you to share it with anyone who may benefit from it.
