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- Read the overview of the theme published in the RSE code.

- Share what 'jars' you about this theme.

- Share your contributions here.

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'The use of accurate terminology for all body parts.'

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Explore the PSHE Association’s Truth Undressed programme for lesson plans on vulvas and vaginal health for years 7 - 11 plus information and guidance on using images of the vulva in secondary schools.  https://pshe-association.org.uk/canesten-the-truth-undressed.

Take a look at Brook’s Different is normal microsite aimed at educating young people about the vulva.

See the Eve Appeal’s Know your body programme which includes lesson plans, powerpoints, activity resources and top tips for primary educators. This includes resources for lessons on genital anatomy for use with years 3 - 7. https://www.knowyourbodylessons.org/

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'Understanding how contraception can assist with reproductive choices, including awareness of abortion.'

'Understanding of good sexual and reproductive health, including the range of risks and outcomes from sexual experiences and the knowledge needed to support informed decisions about sexual activity and about reproductive choices.'

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'The use of accurate terminology for all body parts.'

'An awareness of the human life cycle and that reproduction is a part of life.'

'Knowledge and understanding of how reproductive organs develop in a human body. This includes understanding fertility and the processes of reproduction, including what supports menstrual health and well-being.'

'Recognising the process of pregnancy and birth.'

'Awareness of how human bodies change as they grow.'

'The knowledge and understanding of how people experience significant physical, emotional, social and cognitive changes during puberty.'

'An awareness of the importance of personal self-care and hygiene.'

'The knowledge and skills needed to manage personal self-care and hygiene, including the importance of menstrual well-being.'

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'An awareness that there are many different sources of information offline and online that help us learn about our bodies and affect how we feel about our body and other people’s bodies.'

'Critically engaging with positive and negative representations of a diversity of bodies, including through various forms of media and understanding that these can be unrealistic and harmful.'

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For accessible information, graphics and animated videos on each method of contraception see Brook’s contraception guide: https://www.brook.org.uk/topics/contraception/

Also see the bilingual contraception handout on contraception / atal cenhedlu and condoms / CONDOMAU.

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Read more about this secondary school's RSE journey in the 'Shaking things up' case study in the CRUSH resource.

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To gain more knowledge, ideas and confidence in responding to questions about sexual health and wellbeing try one or more of Brook Learn’s free e-learning programmes for professionals. There are free courses on puberty, consent, pleasure, abortion, STis, Contraception, IUD/IUS and emergency contraception. Many of the courses also include educational activities, graphics and animations that can be used with young people. These are most useful for educators working in upper primary or secondary school.

To think further about how to respond to challenging questions from young people, take a look at module one from Brook Learn’s Pleasure programme which has useful guidance and self-reflection tools on ‘confidential questions and the ask-it basket’.

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See the 'Canvassing voice' case study to read more about this special school's RSE journey in the CRUSH resource.

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'Recognising trusted adults who can help them and whom they can talk to and ask questions of, especially when they feel unhappy or unsafe.

Be able to identify trustworthy sources of information and able to raise issues and questions with trusted adults.

Recognise and be able to use a range of support services to access information and support around relationships, health and well-being and safety.'

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'I found this lesson really inspiring as a teacher. Working with year 8s, I gave students large pieces of paper and they had to write down all the words for the vulva and all the words for the penis. Then I asked for volunteers to feedback to the whole class. First of all they felt a bit embarrassed about saying the words in the class but I reminded them of the ground rules and said - you're not going to get into trouble for saying these words. Its a safe space. It's going to feel uncomfortable and I recognise that. It's fine for you to feel uncomfortable about this because you are going to be saying these words to your teacher but, I said, trust me there is no word that you can say that is going to get you into trouble. You might even educate me about some words!

We found that there were more names for vulva than for penis. We had a discussion about this and questioned what we found because a lot of the words for the vulva were derogatory and like an insult, rather than it being a nice word. We unpicked some of the words and had discussions about why some of these would be hurtful words to describe someone who identifies as female.

Then we agreed the terminology that could be used during lessons and talked about words like vulva and vagina, penis and testicles. We used those words and I said its just like talking about your elbow, or your eyes. It's your vulva, your vagina, your penis.  That opened up questions about where the vagina was.

Pupils said that they enjoyed the task, as they were able to ask questions. Some pupils mentioned that it was good because they could hear words that they recognised but weren’t sure what they meant and then hear me say ‘well that refers to that body part’. I think it helped clear up lots of myths - especially about the vulva and the vagina.'

I didn't use any images of body parts in that session but it flowed on really nicely to the next lesson on puberty. Here we shared images of genitalia and explored the anatomy. We had a discussion about it. I said to them at the start - ‘I am going to put images of the anatomy up on the board’. I said, ‘if you are feeling a bit uncomfortable about that then, I apologise. However it is just biology and it's just there for you to see. If you don't want to look at the board, that's fine, you won't get told off if you don't look at the board. It's just showing you where the bits are. Just take it like, where your retina is in your eye’. The diagrams that I used were from the Great RSE book and from Brook. The diagrams really help for them to say, ‘oh that's there and that's there’ and there's always the conversations about - ‘oh I thought the wee came out of the vagina’, or talking about the fact that the wee and the semen wont come out of a penis at the same time.

For all young people - the boys, girls and those who are questioning their gender, these lessons are so important to help them know what's happening to their bodies. One of the boys in year 8, said to me, ‘I've learnt so much in these lessons now. I came from primary knowing nothing’.' (Secondary school RSE lead)

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Create opportunities for children and young people to ask questions anonymously by using an Ask-it basket or Talk-about-box in every RSE session.

Use the questions that you collect, or hear during lessons, to help you build a picture of what your learners already know, what they are curious about and what challenges they are facing. This will help you to build a responsive and developmentally appropriate question.

Always answer every question that is asked, even if it seems silly or inappropriate. This helps children and young people learn that you are always listening and responding to them. Dealing with some of the challenging questions can also help you to name and tackle social taboos.

It can be really useful to model ‘not-knowing’ when it comes to sexual health and wellbeing. Where appropriate, look up answers to questions with students using trusted sources as this will help model the process of not-knowing and knowledge creation with learners.

Answering questions about sexual health and wellbeing isn’t always easy. Prepare for this by doing an activity with colleagues during an INSET. Ask everyone to write down the question that they are most worried about being asked in RSE (or the most challenging question they have ever been asked). Work in small groups to discuss how to respond in the moment and write down realistic strategies that can be shared with others. If needed, contact a specialist or community organisation or use websites like brook.org.uk to access specialist sexual health and wellbeing information and advice.

‘We put a ‘talk-about-box’ in every classroom. This is a box that children can use to put their worries, feelings or questions into. We call it a ‘talk-about-box’ because they can also use the box to just write down the name of an adult they would like to speak to. We did this so that the children who are new to the English language, or who aren’t able to write down what they are feeling, can still use the box as an opportunity to ask for help or to start a conversation.’ (Primary teacher)

‘I got all the year nine girls together in the lecture theatre and did an introduction to the new RSE curriculum using images for the different themes. Then I asked them what jars them about RSE and gave them all jars. One group of girls, they were like ‘can we have another jar’?. I said ‘what do you need another jar for?’ and they were like ‘we want a questions jar’,- so in this jar I just had ‘what’s this, what’s that, what’s this, what’s that’ and I was like, wow, we don’t do anywhere near enough for these kids, they’ve got so many questions!’ (Secondary school teacher)

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How are children and young people living and learning about sexual health and wellbeing? 

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How are children and young people living and learning about sexual health and wellbeing? 

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How can teachers get started with this theme in their settings? 

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How can teachers get started with this theme in their settings? 

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https://hwb.gov.wales/api/storage/1bd095d4-caf0-4557-84de-609f84845021/2-llinyn-iechyd-a-lles-rhywiol-cynnwys-gorfodol.pdf

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What is the Welsh Government guidance on this theme? 

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What is the Welsh Government guidance on this theme? 

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https://hwb.gov.wales/cwricwlwm-i-gymru/cynllunio-eich-cwricwlwm/themau-trawsgwricwlaidd-ar-gyfer-cynllunio-eich-cwricwlwm/#relationships-and-sexuality-education-(rse):-statutory-guidance