This evaluation has found that the majority of sexuality education programmes were not effectively meeting students’ learning needs. Sexuality education in many schools was characterised by a ‘one size fits all’ approach for all students. ERO identified an overall pattern across some schools of teaching sexuality education in isolation of other subjects, with little or no meaningful assessment of students’ needs, inadequate and/or inappropriate resources and teachers who were not well prepared to teach this subject. This combination resulted in the poor delivery of sexuality education.
ERO found good examples of how schools, parents, students and community agencies have worked together to identify and respond to student needs in sexuality education. In these schools: governance and management supported community consultation and development of sexuality education programmes; resources, planning and content were relevant; teachers and students had a strong rapport and support networks were actively promoted; the schools were respectful to all students; and, the schools were safe for all students.
Effective sexuality education needs to be tailored to the needs of students within the context of the Health and Physical Education Curriculum. ERO is concerned that many schools delivered the same sexuality education programmes from one year to another in isolation of other aspects of health and physical education and with little consideration to students’ individual needs. This meant that many of the sexuality education programmes did not build on students’ prior learning, were often repetitive (for example, repeating pubertal change), were not connected to the Health and Physical Education curriculum and did not meet students’ individual needs.
Sexuality education is a challenging area to teach well. Teachers need clear school-wide guidelines that outline the purpose of sexuality education, the linkages of sexuality education to other areas of the curriculum, the progression from one year to another, the approach to consulting with the community, how this information should be used to adapt programmes, how to assess students’ prior learning and the processes in place for school-wide review of sexuality education. These guidelines can provide teachers with the basis to adapt and deliver high quality sexuality education programmes. Unfortunately there were some schools that did not provide this systemic support for their teachers.
Schools should develop school wide guidelines that:
That all schools develop and implement school-wide guidelines for the planning, development and delivery of sexuality education.
ERO found that the majority of teachers were not using their knowledge of their students to develop an appropriate sexuality education programme that linked to the curriculum. The majority of schools were not effectively assessing their students’ learning in sexuality education. This meant that they could not be confident that their programmes were meeting their students’ needs. Teachers need to assess their students both formally and informally to adapt any school-wide sexual education programme to match their students’ needs.
That sexuality education teachers collect, analyse and use assessment information to track students’ progress and achievement in sexuality education, and adapt programmes to meet students’ needs.
Assessment of students’ prior learning and needs should also include the views of parents and caregivers about sexuality education. A quarter of schools were not regularly consulting their communities about their health programmes. Schools are required to consult their communities about the content and delivery of health programmes. This information can provide teachers with a greater awareness of the context for students’ understanding of sexuality, thereby helping them to adapt their programmes to more aptly reflect the realities of their students’ lives.
That boards of trustees ensure that their schools consult the community, every two years, on how the school intends to implement the health curriculum, of which sexuality education is a part.
Sexuality education occurs within the wider context of the school environment. Ideally, the school environment should support sexuality education by providing a safe and inclusive culture for learning. Nearly half of the schools needed to improve how effectively their school culture supported the development of positive attitudes towards sexuality and sexual diversity.
Part of providing students with a safe and inclusive learning environment is ensuring that they also have access to appropriate support services. Sexuality education programmes may raise issues for students that require more specialised support than teachers can offer. ERO found that nearly half the schools needed to improve students’ access to support services, both in the school and in the community.
ERO found that secondary schools were better able than primary schools to provide a range of different support services for their students. This is to be expected as it is likely that secondary school students will have more need for support services, in relation to their sexuality and sexual development, than primary school students. However, primary schools still need to ensure that their students have access to support, which may be provided by the school or by community groups.
That schools provide students with safe and inclusive learning environments that support the effective delivery of sexuality education.
That schools ensure that their students have information about support services.
Teachers need to be seen by students as approachable and to be able to respond to students’ questions when delivering sexuality education. Half the schools had teachers with good subject and pedagogical knowledge for teaching sexuality education; and a similar proportion demonstrated good student engagement skills. ERO found that teachers with good subject and pedagogical knowledge had typically received recent professional development training in sexuality education and had the professional support of other staff.
Some schools had allocated sexuality education to non-specialist teachers and had not supported these teachers with professional development and/or mentoring. This lack of professional support had had a negative impact on the ability of these teachers to teach effectively.
Primary school teachers were less likely than secondary school teachers to have effective subject and pedagogical knowledge. This finding is also supported by the information from schools which showed that primary school teachers were less likely to have qualifications and less likely to have had recent professional development in this area.
That the Ministry of Education investigate the adequacy and effectiveness of current provision of professional development for teachers of sexuality education.
That schools develop their capability to deliver sexuality education programmes.
The majority of schools used external providers to present part or all of their sexuality programmes. Many schools reported that this worked well for them and gave their students valuable information. Unfortunately most of the schools that used external providers did not review the effectiveness of their contribution to the sexuality education programme.
Boards of trustees and senior management are responsible for the quality of the programme offered, and should use self-review processes to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. This includes:
From the information ERO gathered, there was no relationship between the use of providers and effectiveness of the sexuality programme. Where a school has a planned, well‑integrated approach to sexuality education, the appropriate use of an outside provider can enhance a sexuality education programme. However, it is critical in these situations that the school works in partnership with the provider so that there is a shared understanding of the agreed content, available teaching resources and desired learning outcomes.
That when schools use outside providers to deliver aspects of sexuality education they ensure that:
In nearly half of the schools the range of resources used by teachers was limited and many resources were outdated and not relevant to student needs and experiences.
Some of the schools were not aware of the resources available to them. Most schools did not regularly update resources to keep them relevant to the students’ needs and experiences.
This review did not evaluate the value of specific resources or seek to identify any gaps in provision.
That all schools regularly review the appropriateness of their sexuality education resources, to ensure that they meet the current learning needs of all their students.
That the Ministries of Education and Health carry out further investigation into which resources are useful and well used, and for which groups of students; and identify any gaps in resource provision.
That the Ministries of Education and Health provide schools with further evidence‑based best practice information on effective sexuality education, to inform the development and delivery of sexuality programmes.