How to teach Relationships, Sex and Health Education Creatively 

14 February 2023

Relationships and Sex Education isn’t always the easiest topic to teach, and we know teachers and schools are still getting their heads around the latest statutory guidance from the government.

According to UNESCO, there is significant evidence of the positive impact of sexuality education and schools play a vital role in delivering inclusive, evidence-based information. The School of Sexuality Education highlight that “by removing stigma around these topics we can empower young people to make informed choices, seek help when they need it, and improve their health and well-being.”

Just like any other topic, RSE can be taught creatively. As Dr Lisa-Maria Müller, Head of Research as Chartered College of Teaching said in her foreword to the Dreamachine PSHE resources: “creative, student-led activities empower students to develop self-care strategies and important life skills such as imagination, collaboration, communication, independence, self-confidence and mutual understanding.”

Teaching for Creativity Resources

Our Teaching for Creativity programme focuses on teaching creative thinking skills and habits across the curriculum. To demonstrate how it can be done, we have produced a range of resources, included a few lesson plans which link to the latest Relationships and Heath / RSE and Health curriculum.

Explore the concept of consent with Primary Key Stage 2 through poetry with our Being With Me plans – two lessons where pupils will grow an understanding of their personal space, boundaries, and what makes them feel safe, and in turn, their appropriate and respectful actions towards others. They also focus on the creative skills of wondering and questioning and working collaboratively.

These three Crafting Conversations lessons use drawing and sculptural exercises to encourage conversations and opportunities to have tricky discussions around Primary pupil’s feelings and the feelings of others, working on the skill of being disciplined to hone their conversation skills.

The Consent and Healthy Relationships lesson plans use poetry as a means for Secondary Key Stage 3 students to work together to examine and communicate what a caring and respectful relationship looks like, exploring what consent means for them and the issues surrounding consent. They work on a range of Creative Habits of Mind, especially focusing on being inquisitive.

In our three Which Me Do You See learning sequences, Key Stage 3 students can explore their own emotions and feelings around developing positive relationships through creative tasks, all while developing the skill of being disciplined.

Dreamachine Resources

A New Direction have also worked with Dreamachine, commissioned as part of Unboxed: Creativity in the UK, to develop some schools PSHE resources to promote discussion with pupils using expressive art activities to help them understand their own and others’ emotions and perceptions.

This collection of 10 lesson plans for children aged 5 – 13 years old focuses on Personal Development and Health & Wellbeing, providing opportunities for children to reflect on their connection to each other and the world; developing self-esteem and strategies for self-care.

The resources are anchored in pupils’ view of themselves, putting them in the driving seat with open-ended activities, questions, and creative tasks to prompt dialogue and critical thinking. They link to the curricular across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Agenda Resources

AGENDA and Primary Agenda are free online toolkits to help explore ideas around equality and diversity with children and young people, promoting positive relationships in schools and communities, which can be used to support the delivery of relationships and sexuality education.

The free to use packs that are available online here use creative activities that focus on students expressing their opinions on issues that are important to them in a safe way. Based on principles of equality, inclusivity, children’s rights and social justice, they aim to tackle the causes and consequences of violence against girls and women, homophobia and transphobia.

They were created in consultation with young people by Cardiff University, NSPCC, Welsh Women’s Aid, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales and the Welsh Government.

Schools of Sexuality Education Resources

The School of Sexuality Education (who provided consultation on A New Direction’s Teaching for Creativity RSE resources) have their own sets of free to use resources available online. Their Teachable Moments worksheets are based around TV series and films popular with teens such as Sex Education and Noughts and Crosses. They address key learning points from the new RSE guidance and encourage critical thinking. The School of Sex Ed also provides guidance for schools on topics such as sexual harassment and school uniform, CPD and consultancy.

For more RSE activity ideas, including Contraception Top Trumps, check out this blog run by the School of Sex Ed’s Reproductive and Sexual Health Lead, Dr Emma Chan.

Books

Either for your school library or for teaching inspiration, use books that are relevant and informative on the latest issues facing young people. A few examples are:

• Sex Ed: An Inclusive Teenage Guide to Sex and Relationships from the School of Sexuality Education – a “positive, practical and empowering guide for teenagers, tackling sex and relationships in an inclusive and non-judgemental way”.
• The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta, a verse novel for younger teens that has free teaching ideas in this resource made in partnership with CLPE.
• Stonewall have a list of LGBTQ+ inclusive books, for ages 2-15+