Teacher Blog: Ade

RSE Policy

As a school, we knew that our SRE policy was becoming a little out of date and needed refreshing. The first thing that we did was to rename it so that it is now called RSE, with the emphasis on the relationship aspect. Although it is only a subtle change, the response from other teachers has been amazing! It’s the sort of thing that makes you ask why you never did it sooner. By simply swapping two letters, we’re now saying that we’re going to be learning about how we relate to one another;  what it means to be in a relationship; how we treat others, and yes, an element of what we’ll be learning about is sex, but as part of a relationship centred around love and respect. The idea has gone down well.

 

In addition, we decided to restructure what each year group will cover. Being an academy allows us some flexibility with this. Beforehand, I picked the brains of some of the members of the Gender Respect Project for ideas and then sat down to map out our RSE overview.  The new curriculum took shape and is now part of our policy. In brief, we begin in Y1 with a focus on naming parts of the body that can be seen on a clothed person e.g, head, hands, arms, legs, etc. During Y2 children are learning about the life cycles of animals. In Y3 and Y4 children use PHSE / P4C sessions to explore the concept of consent. This is a new addition to our curriculum and aims to bring awareness of valuing another person’s personal space, that nobody has a right to invade it in any way. Clearly, this is not a session in sexual consent – the children are too young to be discussing that – however, it does lay some foundations for such discussions at secondary school. Moving into Y5, children learn about the content associated with a typical SRE curriculum: puberty, menstruation, reproduction, etc. Formally, this had usually been taught in Y6, but we chose to move it so that the Y6 could focus on more thought provoking issues such as relationships and families, name calling, body image, bullying and self-esteem. This is also a new addition to our RSE curriculum, but an element that some would argue is the most important of all.

 

We have yet to try out our new structure. As I write this, letters have been sent to parents informing them of our changes and we have invited them to take a copy of our policy and / or attend a Q and A meeting to address any concerns. To date, (over a week since the letters went out), only one parent has responded and has asked to see the policy. The rest seem satisfied. I might be speaking too soon, but early indicators suggest the idea is popular with parents too. Maybe there is a collective understanding that to live happily alongside others in our modern day society, we need to dedicate time to learning about the values promoted by the Gender Respect Project. Let’s hope so!

 

Update: The policy has now been adopted by the school and a copy can be found here: Relationships and Sex Education overview

Teacher Blog: Chella

I’m an independent education researcher, comedian and designer with an MA in Education from Sheffield Hallam University, a PGCE in Drama and Media from Bretton Hall College and a BFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University. It’s been a real treat to be able to combine all my interests as part of the Gender Respect Project!

The research I undertook for my MA dissertation, Period Positive Schools, looked at ways that media literacy, art and drama could be used to challenge menstrual taboos in the classroom to support young people of all genders. It developed out of my comedy, art and fanzine project, Adventures in Menstruating, and continues as #periodpositive, in association with DECSY’s Gender Respect Project.

#periodpositive believes that menstruation education should be:

• Free, unbranded, objective, inclusive of reusable’s (like menstrual cups and cloth pads), and easy to understand
• Consistently taught by trained staff, factually accurate, up-to-date and well-researched, with learners’ needs in mind, and regularly evaluated with pupils and menstruation education practitioners, with excellent communication to other faculties, parents and community partners about the content of lessons
• Able to scaffold and complement lessons on fertility, puberty and reproductive health, with an awareness of physiological differences and medical conditions related to reproductive health and healthy menstrual cycles as a vital sign
• Supported more comprehensively across he curriculum, particularly in science and PSHE but also in media studies and design and technology
• Aimed at different age groups, starting well before puberty (and ensuring to use the correct names for body parts, even with very young children) and revisited regularly
• Inclusive of all genders, cultures, abilities and sexualities (the way all high quality SRE should be), with adapted resources where appropriate
• Supportive of easy menstruation management in school and equipped to signpost diverse and effective ways of menstruation management in future

I’ve carried on my research with the support of colleagues from the Gender Respect Project, presented #periodpositive at the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research conference this past June, and have recently started working with some local youth homeless shelters. The research is based on a lot of awesome work that’s come before me – particularly the advertising research of Dr. Elizabeth Kissling (US) and the education research of Shirley Prendergast (UK). Some of the menstruation education lesson activities I’ve developed rely on drama techniques developed by Augusto Boal (Brazil) and Dorothy Heathcote (UK).

The most compelling bits of my research findings are the impact of advertising messages on the fears kids have reported about menstruation. Their concerns have been of shame, secrecy and leakage fear. There’s a history of language use and deliberate marketing in schools that demonstrates a clear link, and it all comes down to two things – secrecy-vs.-privacy, and shame. Privacy is fine – that’s a boundary you’re setting and it’s about safety, choice and consent. Secrecy, on the other hand, is not ok. Secrecy is someone else – whether that’s a parent, teacher, advertising message or society more generally – telling you that you need to be quiet about something – or that you need to do whatever it takes to make a part of you invisible. That’s no way to be, as anyone who experiences intersectional oppressions or whose gender identity, race or ethnicity, sexuality, or disability is not immediately apparent.

And that’s where shame comes in. No one has the right to imply that anyone’s identity, body, or bodily function (or dysfunction, for that matter) is shameful, makes people uncomfortable, or should be hidden or kept secret, and yet that is how menstruation education is most often approached (or avoided) in schools. By not taking more interest in the quality and purpose of the current menstruation education currently on offer in all but a handful of schools (and there are some where individual teachers are aiming to change this), there is a tacit complicity in the status quo, which #periodpositive serves to challenge.

The aim of #periodpositive is to serve as a benchmark for open and informed provision and information about menstruation and reproductive health, by anyone, in any country, but as a starting point, I’m focusing on UK settings that support young people.

I’ll be posting updates of my research throughout the Gender Respect Project, and sharing lesson resources. I’m also taking Adventures in Menstruating to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the PBH Free Fringe.

For more information, please visit www.periodpositive.com, and check back here for updates in September.

 

Teacher Blog: Stephen

Summer Term Events

Sports day, speech day, prize giving, proms and new parent welcoming meetings. All these events are occasions when gender inequality can be an issue. Last year I sat in my son’s school for speech day and was horrified when every child chosen in Key Stage 2 was a girl. Equally I would have had the same reaction if it had just been boys that were chosen. Schools should reflect a community where both girls’ and boys’ contributions to the community are recognised. So these are some of the questions I would be asking:

Sports Day

How are the children chosen? Is it mixed gender or gender specific? If as a teacher you are aware that boys or girls outperform in a particular activity is it worth considering separating the sexes to stop it becoming one gender is better than others? (bearing in mind that single sex activities can reinforce differences) To encourage competition children need to know they have a chance of winning.

Speech day or prize giving

Are all sections of the community equally represented? Are the prizes not just a reflection on academic success? Have you a prize for the boy and girl who has demonstrated kindness to others? Is there a prize for a boy and girl who has been an ambassador to others?

Proms

A challenge more in primary than secondary. Lots of discussion and opinion. Parents and schools with different viewpoints. I personally have reservations whether primary is the right place. I’m very aware of self-image and I’m concerned that 10/ 11 year olds are encouraged to question their looks. Prom boy and prom girl misleads children to question their own appearance. For 10s and 11s a leavers party, in my opinion, is more appropriate.

New parents meetings

Are they at a time that encourages all parents to attend? Are there messages we want to share with parents that help parents to understand that equality in our school is important? I want parents in my school to know that an equal number of boys and girls are on the school council. I also want parents to realise that behaviour that doesn’t respect others isn’t tolerated. I want parents to know that a safe environment for all is equally important as academic achievement.

Over the summer lets see schools take a responsible lead on gender respect.

Violence and Prejudice Activities

Sue Lyle has given us permission to publish an article, ‘Violence and Prejudice‘, that she wrote for Creative Teaching and Learning (vol 5.1) which describes a number of activities using images which can be used to discuss some of the issues facing young people (particularly young women) today:

• ‘girlification’
• sexualisation and pornographication of society
• pressure to achieve highly
• class differences
• search for the perfect body
• dieting
• self-harm
• violence against girls and women
• economic realities for women

As Sue says in the article ‘The activities are intended to promote discussion of values and promote principles of respect between young people and active participation’ and some teachers she worked with suggested that they could be used with pupils as young as nine.

Please let us know if you use or adapt any of the activities and how they went.

Violence and Prejudice Activities

Sue Lyle has given us permission to publish an article, ‘Violence and Prejudice‘, that she wrote for Creative Teaching and Learning (vol 5.1) which describes a number of activities using images which can be used to discuss some of the issues facing young people (particularly young women) today:

• ‘girlification’
• sexualisation and pornographication of society
• pressure to achieve highly
• class differences
• search for the perfect body
• dieting
• self-harm
• violence against girls and women
• economic realities for women

As Sue says in the article ‘The activities are intended to promote discussion of values and promote principles of respect between young people and active participation’ and some teachers she worked with suggested that they could be used with pupils as young as nine.

Please let us know if you use or adapt any of the activities and how they went.