Parents have a right to see sex education material
The Education Secretary is writing to all schools in England to make clear that they can and should share relationships, sex and health curriculum materials with parents.
In addition, she has penned an open letter to parents – which encourages them to have confidence in their right to know what their children are seeing and being taught in the classroom.
The letter makes clear that companies providing teaching resources cannot use copyright law to forbid schools from sharing materials, and any attempt to do so through contract terms would be unenforceable and void.
If a provider were to attempt to forbid sharing with parents when asked, schools should continue regardless, because a blanket ban would contradict the clear public interest in parents being aware of what their children are being taught.
In the event that a school is faced with contractual clauses, the Education Secretary is backing schools defending parents’ rights with a practical sample letter that all schools can adapt and send to external providers making clear such clauses are void on the grounds that they are unenforceable.
The Education Secretary first wrote to all schools in England in March in light of concerning reports of the teaching of inappropriate materials as part of the RSHE curriculum.
This letter was clear that the government was initiating a thorough review of the curriculum supported by an independent panel, but that in the meantime schools should not enter contractual conditions that prevent them sharing RHSE materials.
The new letter gives the DfE's position on the application of copyright law in this area to date – as part of the government’s overriding approach to empower both teachers and parents to defend their rights.
It makes clear that where parents cannot attend a presentation or they are unable to view materials via a “parent portal”, such as a school website, schools may provide copies of materials to parents to take home on request, providing parents agree to avoid copying the content or sharing it further.
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