Just one in five teachers confident in delivering lessons to tackle sexual harassment
Joe Lepper
Wednesday, September 28, 2022
Most teachers lack the confidence to deliver lessons around countering harmful sexual behaviour and sexual harassment, a report is warning.
Among secondary school teachers, just 19 per cent said they were confident enough to advise pupils on these subjects within sex and relationships education (SRE) lessons.
The report by children’s charity NSPCC and teachers’ union NASUWT also warns that almost half of secondary school teachers do not feel confident to deliver such lessons.
Four in 10, of the more than 1,000 teachers surveyed, say they lack the confidence to deliver lessons on pornography and less than a third are confident enough to talk about issues around consent.
“SRE is vital for young people as it helps them understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships, and that they have a right to be safe, heard and respected,” said Maria Neophytou, the NSPCC’s director of strategy and knowledge.
She called for SRE resources to be more readily available to teachers “so they can feel confident engaging with pupils and delivering a range of diverse topics, whether consent, sexuality or online safety”.
A lack of suitable teaching resources and training is key barrier highlighted. Teachers say current training is “inadequate” and “outdated”, according to the report.
More than eight in 10 teachers surveyed said they would benefit from improved resources and training.
Ministers are also blamed, with 57 per cent saying the level of support from government on delivering effective SRE “has been poor”, according to the NSPCC, who this week have launched its own online SRE course for teachers called Talk Relationships.
The two organisations are also calling on education secretary Kit Malthouse to “prioritise” SRE guidance and training.
Almost half of secondary school teachers said they do not feel confident about teaching relationships and sex education (RSE), a joint @NASUWT and @NSPCC survey has revealed.
— NSPCC Learning (@NSPCCLearning) September 28, 2022
Learn more about the findings and NSPCC’s new RSE service, Talk Relationships: https://t.co/KvYe7tcLng
NASUWT general secretary Patrick Roach added: “It is evident from the findings of our joint survey that many teachers do not currently feel they are being equipped with the tools or time they need to be able to teach about these sensitive topics confidently.
“Teachers cannot provide pupils with the guidance and information they need if they are not themselves given ongoing access to pedagogical and practical training and advice.”
Among teachers surveyed seven in 10 say that SRE is “extremely important in creating a culture of safeguarding in schools”.
Last year an Ofsted investigation concluded that sexual harassment and online abuse had become "normalised" in schools.
Nine out of 10 girls told the inspectorate that the sending of unwanted explicit videos and pictures, as well as sexist name calling, was taking place in schools.
