1. Please confirm or deny if the Local Authority (LA) provides the following services in secondary schools (for 14-16 years olds) to meet the needs of young people.
If the LA does provide the service please confirm which types of schools the LA provides them in (e.g. LA maintained, academies and free schools, independent schools, special schools, alternative provision/pupil referral units).
* Specialist Relationship Sex Education (RSE) training for teachers and other practitioners.
Babcock provides this training for LA maintained, academies and free schools, independent schools, special schools, alternative provision/pupil referral units.
Additionally, as part of a partnership project, training has been rolled out to primary (Y6) and secondary school staff around RSE and other subjects under Personal Social Heath and Economic (PSHE) education. This has included promoting resilience and how to have difficult conversations, healthy relationships, drugs and alcohol, protecting young people against exploitation and educating young people on the law and making safe choices.
* School nurses to deliver RSE
School nurses are not commissioned to deliver directly RSE, but have worked with the partnership project above and co-developed and delivered one of the sessions in this programme.
* Specialist training in delivering RSE for school nurses
School nurses have training related to RSE from The Eddystone Trust, but not specifically in relation to RSE delivery beyond this.
* Funding for external visitors (e.g. from sexual and reproductive health services) to contribute to RSE in local schools, RSE curriculum guidance, resources or lesson plans.
Individual schools decide and arrange external visitors to suit their needs, and some community safety partnerships have provided funding for external visitors to schools (e.g. theatre based sessions). There have been some limitations on external visitors to schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
* Healthy Schools scheme or equivalent, including RSE
No current Healthy Schools Scheme is operating, but a Healthy Schools web-based offer is in development and will be accessible to all schools.
* Information/publicity materials about local sexual health services
There is a Devon website with information on local services. Devon County Council is also in the process of preparing to launch three websites for children, young people and families (procured via Chat Health/Leicestershire Partnership Trust) which will also incorporate information and signposting about sexual health services and information about sexual health and relationships specific to a targeted audience.
* Support/training for governors
Yes or LA maintained, academies and free schools, independent schools, special schools, alternative provision/pupil referral units.
Governors were also invited to attend the PSHE training as described above.
* Other (please detail)
None.
2. Please confirm the amount of money spent by the LA on RSE-related activities (e.g. training, provision of resources, paying for external visitors, providing curriculum support) in all secondary schools in the following financial years:
* 2019-2020
* 2020-2021
* 2021-2022
The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) via the Safer Devon Partnership and the Sustainability and Transformation Plan (STP) funded the RSE partnership project described above pre-2019/20, and some of these funds have been carried forward due to pandemic disruption. This amount was approximately £4,000 in 2021/22.
Public health nursing time was allocated to the developing and delivering the training and leadership time which supported the project steering group. This was provided through existing staffing resource rather than via the project funding. The amount of staffing resource used for this project has not been quantified, therefore Devon County Council does not hold the information relating to the amount of money spent on public health nursing time spent on RSE-related activities.
3. Please confirm the amount of money that will be spent in 2022-2023 by the LA on RSE-related activities (e.g. training, provision of resources, paying for external visitors, providing curriculum support) in all secondary schools.
Due to disruption caused by the pandemic, £36,000 of the RSE partnership project funds mentioned in the response to question 2 have been carried forward to 2022/23.
In addition, funding from the Public Health Grant has been allocated to support the development of a Healthy Schools web-based offer for 2022-23, which will include RSE-related activities. The specific amount that will be spent on RSE has not yet been determined, therefore this information is not held by Devon County Council.