Series 2, Episode 2 of the Let’s Go Further podcast
Dougie Boyd, Director of Education and Wellbeing at national charity, Brook, has spoken out about the criticism faced by schools and organisations providing Relationships and Sex Education, commenting that it has become “quite an angry and quite a fevered space”.
Speaking on Let’s talk about sex, relationships and education, the second episode in the second series of the Let’s Go Further podcast, produced by the Skills and Education Group, Dougie talks about the need to dial down the rhetoric and acknowledge how essential effective Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) is in order for children and young people to make sense of their place in the world around them.
…I think we do have a real hang-up in this country about young people accessing sexual health services…But one of the things we have to remember is that taking care of your sexual health is an absolutely appropriate part of your lifelong healthcare journey.
RSE was only made mandatory in schools in September 2020 and Dougie makes the point that Brook would like to see mandatory RSE protected in its current form and extended up into the further and higher education sectors.
He explains that when effective RSE is delivered, he sees young people understanding how to take care of their sexual health and how to access sexual health services. He also notes that young people entering post-16 education are not always as well informed as we would expect them to be, and that many FE colleges are choosing to deliver a good RSE curriculum in spite of the way they are funded and supported.
Brook is a charity that seeks to support people with their sexual health and wellbeing.
Let’s Go Further is a podcast that aims to challenge the way we think about skills and education. Having focused on social mobility in series one, which was published in the autumn of 2022, the team are looking at issues around equity, diversity and inclusion throughout series two. The series is hosted by the Skills and Education Group’s Foundation Manager, Joe Mcloughlin.
The Let’s Go Further podcast is produced by the Skills and Education Group in collaboration with Research Podcasts and is available wherever you receive your podcasts. You can follow the Skills and Education Group on Twitter @SkillsEduGroup and via their website.
Episode 2 will be published on Tuesday 2 May 2023.
Follow the Skills and Education Group on Twitter @SkillsEduGroup.
For all media enquiries please contact Catherine McDonald at Popping Orange Communications on 07515 116547.
Tune into Series 2 of Let's Go Further and listen back to Series 1.
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