from Christian Concern
Christian Concern’s Head of Education Steve Beegoo, and the Christian Legal Centre’s Roger Kiska, lay out how Christian schools and teachers can best follow government guidelines relating to RSE and still respect religious beliefs.
Since it became compulsory in September 2020, many schools have been implementing and teaching Relationships and Sex Education but have discovered significant disquiet from those with a traditional religious background. This is due to the strongly held religious beliefs about sex, marriage and gender which are common to many religious communities. In order for a school to comply with the Equality Act 2010 and the government guidance, significant attention will need to be paid to the views of religious parents, so that schools properly address the issues arising and do not unlawfully disresgard those with religious belief. Sadly, some schools are being taken through legal processes and this has resulted from their lack of understanding of the law, the government guidance and the strongly held views of many parents. This has also arisen because schools have relied heavily on the resources provided by external organisations, or where an activist staff member with strong views has inconsiderately implemented the RSE curriculum, especially where LGBT themes predominate. This guide is to help schools make sure they have done all they can to fully engage with religious views, and remain compliant with the law.
The key areas
The below list sets out certain issues that parents and/or teachers may have with the teaching of RSE: