Parents withdraw their girls from sex education

A STRICTLY Orthodox girls’ high school in Gateshead has told Ofsted that all parents have withdrawn their daughters from sex education.

Under the government’s new relationships and sex education curriculum, which schools were required to start teaching this term, parents can ask for pupils to be withdrawn from sex education until they are 15. After that age, it is the pupil’s choice.

Ofsted said the independent Ateres High School, which has 260 girls aged from 11 to 16, had drawn up a sex education policy and consulted with parents.

According to the policy, if parents wanted their children to be taught the subject, the school would arrange for an outside provider to deliver it. Content would include sexual orientation and gender reassignment.

But according to Ofsted: “Leaders explained that, following consultation, all parents have exercised their right to withdraw their child from the teaching of sex education.”

Because the school is not covering LGBT issues, the inspectorate said it was still failing to comply wholly with independent school standards.

V“The school’s approach to teaching PSHE [personal, social, health and economic education] remains only to teach pupils in general terms to be respectful of others, including those with ‘different lifestyles’,” Ofsted reported.

“Pupils are not taught about sexual orientation or gender reassignment. Consequently, pupils are still not being prepared fully for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of life in British society.”

Meanwhile, Ofsted has noted that an independent Orthodox boys’ high school in Hendon which was criticised for taking pupils on a residential trip to Wales last summer is now complying with health and safety requirements.

Beis Medrash Elyon had put pupils at risk on the trip, Ofsted said last year.

But the school had now updated its child protection and safety policy, it reported after a follow-up inspection in April.

However, taking into account the three previous inspections, school leaders were “not ensuring that they are consistently meeting the independent school standards” for quality of leadership and management.