UPDATE 09.10.20
The Department for Education has responded to our joint open letter concerning the RSE guidelines criticised for their rules on ‘anti-capitalist’ content.
But for all the words they used, they said nothing. Their empty response to our open letter does little to reassure teachers that they will be able to facilitate political discussions under the new guidelines.
They place the onus on schools to deliver teaching that reflects “diversity of views and backgrounds”, but fail to explain how that is possible under a set of guidelines that mandate censorship of political stances loosely termed as ‘extreme’.
Most worryingly, the Department didn’t take the opportunity to confirm that guidelines such as these will not be implemented across other parts of the curriculum.
This is unacceptable. Gavin Williamson must give teachers the answers they need – we will not stand by and let the Department dodge its responsibilities.
FULL RESPONSE FROM DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION BELOW OUR OPEN LETTER
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OPEN LETTER SENT ON 30.09.2020
Shout Out UK on behalf of a coalition of organisations from the political education and democracy promotion sectors writes an open letter to the Department for Education concerning the censorship of ‘extreme’ political content in schools.
Download PDF Letter (updated 08.46 06/10/2020)
Dear Mr Williamson,
We write this joint open letter as a coalition of organisations in the political education and democracy promotion sectors to raise our concerns about the Department’s guidance on relationships, sex and health education (RSE) issued on Thursday 24th September 2020. We acknowledge that this guidance has been issued to schools in the context of RSE, not the PSHE umbrella it sits within, but we are nonetheless concerned about the precedent this may set for other aspects of the curriculum, and the impact it may have on teachers’ confidence to cover political topics.
The guidance states that: “Schools should not under any circumstances use resources produced by organisations that take extreme political stances on matters”, and provides a non-exhaustive list of examples. Our concerns revolve around this point in particular.
As advocates for widening access to education about political issues, we implore the government to consider that this regulation has the potential to censor the already minimal discussion of politics in schools. The guidelines serve to deny students the opportunity to engage with material from ‘extreme’ sources in a classroom environment, precluding informed debate and discouraging critical thinking. Political education continues to be either inadequate or completely absent for most students in the UK; we want to ensure that any window of opportunity to discuss politics is as wide as possible.
With respect to this guidance, which is non-statutory implementation guidance, we seek urgent clarification on the following points:
- How schools are to facilitate a sufficiently diverse dialogue on topics within the RSE curriculum without limiting themselves unnecessarily for fear that the resources they wish to use could be interpreted as being in breach of the guidelines;
- Whether the Department can assure educators that these stark restrictions will not be extended to other subjects in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, leaving schools free to continue to teach an array of contested ideas and viewpoints without fear of recrimination;
- Whether schools can continue to work with, and draw on the resources of, civil society organisations and education providers who embrace open dialogue and diversity of thought to achieve a nuanced approach to complex social and political topics.
Students must be armed with the Political and Media Literacy skills to ensure that they can understand and discuss political issues with a critical mindset. ‘Extreme’ political organisations will exist whether or not schools are allowed to discuss them in the classroom, but this guidance deprives students of the chance to tackle them head-on. Politics necessitates dialogue and the continual contestation of ideas. Schools should be a safe place for this to happen without fear of recrimination or censorship.
Signed By
- Matteo Bergamini, CEO & Founder of Shout Out UK
- Kate Harris, CEO & Co-Founder of VotesforSchools
- Caroline Hunt, Equal Education Spokesperson, Women’s Equality Party
- Tom Franklin, CEO, Young Citizens
- Harriet Andrews, Director, The Politics Project
- Klina Jordan, Co-CE, Make Votes Matter (personal capacity)
- Tom de Grunwald, Co-founder, Forward Democracy
- Ayesha Garrett, Director, Sortition Foundation.
- Sarah Matthews, Director, Sortition Foundation
- Philipp Verpoort, Director, Sortition Foundation
- David Jubb, Director, Sortition Foundation
- Tom Lord, Project Manager, Sortition Foundation
- Mete Coban, My Life My Say
- Greg Sanderson, Smart School Councils
- Keith Garrett, Leader, Rebooting Democracy Party
- Peter Dunphy, Director, Unite to Reform
- Dr James Weinberg, Political Scientist, University of Sheffield (personal capacity)
- Dr Andrew Mycock, University of Huddersfield
- Matilda Lawrence-Jubb, Director, Split Banana
- Anna Alexander, Director, Split Banana
- Molly Scott Cato, Professor of Green Economics, Roehampton University
- Steve Williams, Education Consultant, former headteacher and schools inspector
- XR Citizens’ Assembly Working Group
- Neal Lawson, Compass
- Liz Moorse, Chief Executive, Association for Citizenship Teaching
- Loic Menzies, Chief Executive, The Centre for Education and Youth
- Shelley Metcalfe, Founder and Director, The Digital Life Skills Company/
- Peter Tatchell, Director, Peter Tatchell Foundation
- Professor Matthew Flinders, Founding Director of the Sir Bernard Crick Centre, University of Sheffield
- Emily Evans, Chief Executive of The Economist Educational Foundation
- John McGowan, General Secretary, Social Workers Union
- Sebastien Chapleau, Teacher and Community Organiser, Citizens School
- Loraine Monk, National Executive Committee member, Artists’ Union England
- Jill Eastland, National Executive Committee member, Artists’ Union England
- Theresa Easton, Northern Regional Organiser, Artists’ Union England
- Zita Holbourne – Co-Chair National Executive Committee Artists Union England
- Pam Foley, National Executive Committee member, Artists’ Union England
- James Cathcart, Director, Young Voices Heard
The views expressed in this letter represent those of the signatories and not necessarily their organisations or employers
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DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION’S RESPONSE TO OUR OPEN LETTER
RECEIVED 07.10.2020
Thank you for your email of 30 September, addressed to the Secretary of State for Education, about the guidance on Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) issued on 24th September. I am sure you will appreciate that the Secretary of State receives a large amount of correspondence and is unable to reply to each one personally. It is for this reason I have been asked to reply.
Our new RHSE guidance and training resources equip all schools to provide comprehensive teaching in these areas in an age-appropriate way. These materials should give schools the confidence to construct a curriculum that reflects diversity of views and backgrounds, whilst fostering all pupils’ respect for others, understanding of healthy relationships, and ability to look after their own wellbeing.
We will be issuing further training resources throughout the year so that schools are supported to begin teaching the new RSHE curriculum by summer 2021 at the latest. We know many schools have already begun teaching, and we look forward to seeing all schools follow suit as soon as possible.
It is important that schools take full responsibility for ensuring lessons and materials are age appropriate, suitable and politically impartial, particularly when using materials produced by external organisations.
Thank you for writing.
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