6. Statement by the Cabinet Secretary for Education: Relationships and Sexuality Education

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 5:27 pm on 22 May 2018.

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Photo of Kirsty Williams Kirsty Williams Liberal Democrat 5:27, 22 May 2018

Thank you, Mark. I hope you'd agree today that, if, in a previous administration, we pushed up against the wire, today we've gone through the wire by this announcement, and I would pay tribute to those in the previous Assemblies who pushed on this issue. It's crucial to me that, in discussing relationships and sexuality, what a healthy relationship looks like is a key fundamental part of that, and there is an opportunity through our new updated guidance in the new year and our new curriculum to look at violence against women and other gender-based violence also. Now, that can be done in a combination of ways, whether that's via the classroom teacher or whether schools look to outside organisations to come and deliver bespoke individual programmes. Certainly, I would want to encourage the third sector to keep discussing with us how they can help us transform this part of our curriculum. That's why we have given a small grant of £50,000 to Welsh Women's Aid so that they can help develop material that we can get out into schools to support teachers to deliver that part of the curriculum, but the third sector has had an important voice in developing this report and I will want to continue to work alongside the third sector so that they can support our teachers and educators to deliver a whole range of programmes. Certainly, there's space for both in the new curriculum.