OIA to Ministry Of Education Reveals Significant Finding
MOE says there are 'no compulsory topics' in the RSE curriculum
Today, July 31st, we received an Official Information Act response from Erica Stanford - Education Minister.
It includes a statement that may help school leaders and parents omit concerning content in Relationships and Sexuality Education classes.
"Schools and kura have the flexibility to design their local curriculum, including their RSE curriculum. This means that while RSE is guided by the national curriculum, it will differ from school to school and there are no compulsory topics that must be addressed". - Rapid Response paper, dated 7 December 2023, from Ministry of Education
Read that again.
THERE ARE NO COMPULSORY TOPICS THAT MUST BE ADDRESSED.
Many parents have been waiting for the removal of ‘problematic’ content and yet, are now enduring another year of this content in schools New Zealand-wide. This document shows that back in December 2023 the MOE (quietly, it seems) made this statement.
Did schools get the memo?
Given:
The significant outcry around current Relationship & Sexuality Education
That it became an important election topic
And that parents are asking more questions of their school than previously known
… it would seem this is an important memo to send to schools.
It would have alleviated not only the stress of parents and educators, but also, most importantly, it would have halted another year of many children being exposed to inappropriate, biologically incorrect, sexualised, and in some cases harmful, information.
However, given the lesson content we have seen from a number of schools running RSE in 2024, it appears no memo was sent. Looking at the MOE’s websites and email updates from Erica to principals, we haven’t yet spotted a public or internal notification of a softened approach to topics required to be taught, while they sort this big issue out.
Suggestions for parents:
Show your school leaders this statement.
Inform school leaders of the RSE topics you are concerned about, and ask them why they are included in lessons.
Ask for topics of concern to be immediately removed from the lessons.
If you want to remove your child from the entire RSE lessons, notify the principal in writing, as per the Education and Training Act 2020 Section 51. They must remove your child straight away and offer alternative supervised care.
Erica on Q+A with Jake Tame - May 2024
In May 2024, Erica said this on Q+A…
“What we've committed to under our agreement with the New Zealand First Party is to remove and replace the RSE guidelines. And the reason that we're doing that is because we've had huge feedback, not only from parents, but a lot of principals who have actually sidled up to me and said, Erika, you need to get rid of it, it's problematic.” - Erica Stanford
Erica admits that it’s not just parents who have raised concerns about the current curriculum, but principals as well. Within our growing network, we hear of teachers and principals who are not comfortable with what is in the curriculum, and are feeling stuck.
Parents and grandparents, we are needed, to speak up on behalf of our children. If not us, then who? If not now, then when?
Watch the 2 minute clip here of the Q+A interview here...
Remove and replace
The message from Erica, on behalf of the Coalition, is ‘remove and replace’.
REMOVE: Parents who are concerned are rather keen on the ‘remove’ part to be an immediate directive. We don’t think students will miss RSE in it’s current form, and they are unlikely to be harmed by a pause, until a safe alternative is developed.
REPLACE: Will require an investigation and consultation with stakeholders. We expect parents to be key stakeholders. Many parents have already given feedback, especially to NZFirst. We understand that ERO is currently underway consulting 20 schools. So, if your school is holding a consultation by ERO around RSE, we highly recommend that you attend and plan what you’re going to say! We look forward to reading the findings of ERO’s report.
What are parents concerned about?
There are a number of resources and programmes being used in schools around NZ, on the subject of sexuality education (note, not just ‘sex’ education). The most commonly used appears to be Navigating The Journey, by Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa (Family Planning). Many schools also invite the Police in to run their ‘Keeping Ourselves Safe’ and ‘Loves Me Not’ programmes. (Which are called abuse prevention programmes, however they include topics such as gender identity and other ideological content, so we regard them as RSE). And there are others.
In these programmes, a few of the key concerns are:
Children are being exposed to content of a sexual and ideological nature (some, from as young as 5 years old).
Heavy emphasis on ‘gender’ and ‘gender identity’, ‘challenging gender norms’ (‘norms’ being… boys are boys and girls are girls, and heterosexual attraction).
Repeating messages about gender fluidity, LGBTQIA+, far disproportionate to the % of population in these groups, and suggesting these people are woefully marginalised and harassed.
Little encouragement for children to discuss these topics with parents, in fact parents are barely mentioned.
Navigating The Journey and Loves Me Not both include links to videos that many parents deem inappropriate. They are also featured in Beyond The Birds And Bees app, which is, concerningly, endorsed by the Ministry of Education.
Normalising/expecting children to be involved in sexual activity well before the age of 16, and that consenting to sexual activity before then is normal and safe - “anything goes”… and more!
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Excellent information , thank you